


Rise Up

by noblecrescent



Category: DCTV, DCU, The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Metahumans, Mystery, Platonic Relationships, Romance, The Flash (TV 2014) Season 2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 120,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25562836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent
Summary: Zoom is coming for the Flash so there's no time to waste. Along with Zoom comes his terrible band of metas to terrorize Central City. While the Azalea makes her return to the city, she unknowingly marks herself as the target of another dangerous hunt. Together, Belén & Barry must work with STAR Labs to prevent their Earth from falling as Earth 2 did. It is time to rise up.
Relationships: Barry Allen/Original Character(s), Barry Allen/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

Welcome to the second story involving my OC Belén in the Flash world (pronounced Beh-len with an extra emphasis on the second syllable, hence the accent over the 'e'; so it's Beh- _lén. a_ nd not like the name Helen). This story is a Barry/OC story with a rewritten season 2 plot!

The OC introduced will look like the actress **_Lauren Conrad_** with dark brown eyes and caramel brown hair leading down to blonde tips (ombre-hair).

As I have said before, this is the _second_ story involving this OC. The first story is published on my profile under the name ' _It Had To Be You'_. I do recommend you go read that first as it contains a lot of Belén's past concerning herself, her family, STAR Labs & Barry. You don't have to, it's just some advice! :)

* * *

" _Now Miss…?"_

" _Belén Palayta," the woman pushed back some of her ombre-blonde hair and did her best to keep eye contact with the older woman sitting across her. However that proved difficult as she blinked rapidly and shifted every second or so in her seat._

_The older woman, a professional, jotted down what she saw without remarking. "Your friend Nina referred you to me, and I promise you I can be your utmost confidant in anything you want. If it helps-" she leaned forwards and talked in a hushed tone as if her office was open for all to hear, "-I also know Nina has these powers. She says you relate to it as well."_

_Belén knew her friend, Nina Clarke, would never reveal her identity to anyone. But if Nina had given the slip that she had powers - without sharing what sort of powers - Belén trusted the professional psychologist even more._

" _I do," Belén nodded and once more shifted to cross her other leg instead._

" _Well, where would you like to start?"_

_Belén looked down for a minute, and while she didn't say anything for some minutes, the psychologist jotted down the emotions across Belén's face._

" _I lost...everything," Belén said after a full five minutes of silence. Teary eyed, she looked up to the waiting psychologist. "Is that possible? For someone to lose everything?"_

" _In central city?" the psychologist smiled. "Yes."_

_Belén swallowed hard. "I lost my dad, a year ago, he was murdered. And then...and then a month ago...my brother passed away. The next day my sister went to jail." She nervously played with one of her curls. "That same day my boyfriend broke up with me. Um, and...and I ended up...alone." She blinked tears away and looked at back at the psychologist. "Well...not completely alone, I guess. I became the legal guardian for my sister's four year old son. Thing is, I can't keep him unless I get out of this…" she made a gesture with her hand, "...funk, as one of my friends says it to be."_

" _So, is that why you're here?" the psychologist inquired. "To keep your nephew's custody?"_

_Belén thought about it, she truly thought about it, and in the end she gave a shake of her head. "I want to get better. I want to_ **be** _better. I'm tired of feeling like this. I deserve better...so I'm going to get better."_

~0~

**_6 months later._ **

"Iris! Iris!" Four year old Axel Palayta-Meyer let the entire Central City police department hear his calls for his favorite babysitter.

Behind him was his aunt, Belén Palayta, who was trying to keep up with him while actively shushing him. Axel knew where to go and ran into the officers' desks where, effectively, he found Iris West conversing with her father, Joe West, and their friend, Cisco Ramon.

"Iris!"

Iris stopped talking with Joe and Cisco to greet the newcomer. "Axel!" she laughed as he threw his arms around her waist for hug.

Belén came rushing in a second later, her hand struggling to keep her purse's strap from falling off her arm. "I'm so sorry! He just gets so excited - I...I don't know." Although it had been 6 months since she gained Axel's custody, she was still struggling to keep up with the boy 24/7 while also balancing her jobs and...her powers.

Everyone else knew that too. So when they could help, they would.

Iris took Axel's hand and looked down at the boy. "Well we are going to have a very fun day, aren't we Axel?"

"Yes!" the boy cheered.

"Thank you so much for looking after him while I, uh…" Belén gave a gesture with her finger tapping the side of her head. They knew she had opted to start therapy sessions for her benefit.

"It's fine," Iris assured.

"Nina was supposed to babysit but she got stuck at the hospital, so-"

"Belén, it's really okay," Iris chuckled.

"Hey Bells, were you by any chance thinking of, uh, going to tomorrow's rally…?" Cisco trudged along very carefully while asking the question.

"Um…" Belén thought for a moment, "...you know, at first I was a bit iffy about it, considering I _am_ technically the Flash's _ex_ …"

The other three exchanged disappointed glances, no one had agreed with the sudden decision Barry had taken regarding his relationship with Belén. They just didn't understand. For a while, neither had Belén.

"But then I realized that this rally isn't just for him, it's for all of you," Belén finished with a genuine smile. "It's for you, Cisco, Iris, Joe, professor Stein, Ronnie, Caitlin...all of you."

"And you," Iris pointed but Belén shook her head.

"All I did was finish my family," she said bitterly. "But to answer your question, Cisco, I will go."

"Good, so that makes everyone except Barry," Joe shook his head.

"What do you mean?" Belén looked at him, confused.

"Barry doesn't want to go. And it worries me…"

"But...he's gonna get the key to the city..."

Joe shrugged, looking pretty dejected they had yet to convince Barry to change his mind. "Well, you know Barry. The more we try to convince him to do something, the less he's gonna want to do it."

"I thought I knew him," Belén responded quietly. When she realized she had tarnished the mood she ventured to change the topic. "You guys are coming to _my_ show tomorrow night, right?"

"Front row seats, baby!" Cisco high fived her and laughed with her.

"You know we'll be there too," Iris nodded her head as did Joe.

"Isn't it a bit weird though?" Joe asked, looking pretty confused as he explained better his question. "I mean, this is a tribute to...the Azalea...who's believed to be dead...and you're the lead?"

Belén agreed it completely was weird, and highly ironic.

~0~

"So, the city still thinks I'm dead - well, not this me-me, but...the Azalea me," Belén was sat once again on a in chair across her confidant psychologist, Dr. Baeva. "And they decided to go through with their idea to honor her," Belén laughed, "They think I died helping the Flash save the city. Ironic."

Dr. Baeva stared at her patient with an emotionless face, as was her custom. She often reminded that she was there to help Belén feel better about herself, despite whatever decision Belén took regarding her other identity. "And...do you ever consider of correcting the city? The Azalea survived."

Belén's smile faded at the question. "I mean...what would be the point? Barry decided that he would rather work alone in all aspects. He doesn't need Belén nor the Azalea anymore."

"Okay," Dr. Baeva nodded, acknowledging Belén's answer. "But, what do _you_ think the Azalea should be? Dead? Alive?"

Belén knew what the woman was trying to get her to see. She had often been told she based far too many of her decisions on other people, primarily on Barry. She supposed it had to do with the fact that as she lost people, Barry was there to be her rock. She had become dependent on him, and she - as Dr. Baeva noted - still depended on him after their break up. When the Azalea was pronounced dead, Belén was shocked but also understood that after a while of not seeing her, the city would come up with its own conclusions: the Azalea died on the day of the black hole. At first, Belén was mortified to see that the person she had actually loved to be was no longer going to be remembered. It was then that she decided to delve into her own work to forget about it, push it away and act like it just never existed in the first place.

To further it, to become the Belén she used to be, she went back to her old aerial dance team in the city. While at first it had become nothing but a pastime, her skills proved to be more than intact for a true show. That was when they informed Belén they wanted to give a tribute to the Azalea since the city was planning on giving the Flash his own personal day. Belén honestly hadn't known what to feel then, especially after being asked to be the _lead_ of the show. She had been so focused on getting the Azalea out of her life that she forgot some people actually cared about her - the Azalea. After much hassling, Belén agreed to be the lead for her own tribute.

And it wasn't like she was letting the Azalea completely die. Since her powers had given her some trouble that caused her to lose control, she started training with Cisco to get them back under her reigns. No more would she lose control even if she no longer used her powers as a hero.

"Belén?" Dr. Baeva asked again, this time hoping for an answer.

"At first, I was relieved, you know, that I wouldn't have to worry about being the Azalea anymore. Because if she was dead, then I couldn't lose anymore people like my brother and my sister..." Belén paused to think, "But today being the day that I'm technically supposed to say goodbye to the Azalea, I...I…" her face changed fast and revealed she was terribly opposed to it, "...I don't want to say goodbye. I _am_ the Azalea, and I am not dead."

Despite her professional conduct, Dr. Baeva's lips twitched trying to form a smile. Secretly, she didn't want to see the Azalea gone either.

~0~

Belén's footsteps over the grassy field of the cemetary crunched some of the fallen leaves on the ground. She passed gravestones in silence until she came to the two that she always visited. Her dark brown eyes gazed over her father's gravestone with a sad smile. She turned her left palm over and gently flicked a couple of her fingers. Green vines rose from the grass and crawled over the edges of the gravestone, letting hot pink Azaleas blossom.

"Today's my show, Dad," Belén took in a deep breath, putting on another smile as if her father would see it. David Palayta had been dead for over a year now, but it still felt like yesterday when Belén lost him to murder by Thawne. "They all think I'm dead but you know that I'm not. I'm still here. Wish me good luck."

She cleared her throat and moved to the gravestone beside her father's. Despite it being six months later, she still shuddered a breath upon seeing her twin brother's name. Rayan Palayta had caused her to shed so many tears, but even now Belén loved her brother. Maybe it was better this way - it seemed to beat an everlasting coma anyways.

Six months ago, after being captured by Belén and their older sister Maritza, Rayan had been induced into a coma. Due to his overwhelming telekinetic powers, his body had begun to shut down starting with important parts of his brain. It was those important parts that caused Rayan to lose his personality for that of a delirious, evil metahuman. While they had the option of leaving Rayan in a coma, it was decided between Belén and her mother - who had to learn the hard way that her son had turned into a criminal - that it would be better to pull the plug. Rayan was already dead, in a sense.

Belén raised her hand and created the same pink Azaleas. "I still miss you, Rayan," she whispered and wiped some tears from her eyes before they escaped.

~ 0 ~

The next day, everyone in the city gathered for 'Flash Day' at the town's favorite park. There were many sellers of food, toys, trinkets; anything possible it was there. At the center of the park was a large stage with a podium, and a large Flash banner hung at the back for everyone to see.

At a corner were various city cop cars parked while some of its drivers scoured the event. Cisco and Joe were leaned back on Joe's car, overlooking the event.

"Are we expecting trouble?" Cisco asked after counting each cop that was present.

"Cops always expect trouble. In this city, I expect super evil flying monsters," Joe shot him a smile.

Cisco gave a nod of his head. "That's a solid expectation." He turned his head when he heard a familiar boy's happy cries and saw Axel jumping up and down as Belén handed him an ice cream. "Bells!" Cisco called, making the woman look up.

Smiling, she gently pushed Axel to walk towards the two men. "Hey," she greeted them both.

"Is that cherry ice cream?" Cisco looked down at Axel's ice cream with shock.

"Mine!" Axel poked Cisco on the leg with a medium-sized inflatable, red hammer.

"Axel!" Belén scolded and snatched said toy from him. "We do not do that!"

"Sorry," the boy said after a moment.

"Don't worry about it," Cisco laughed.

"So did you guys convince him?" Belén looked at Joe anxiously. She preferred not to say his name out loud for...reasons...

"Iris talked to him but...we don't know if he's coming or not," admitted the man.

"He better come, because someone-" Belén nodded down at Axel, "-is expecting an appearance."

"You sure it's only the four year old?" Cisco couldn't help tease. Belén deadpanned him then hit him over the head with the inflatable hammer. "I deserve that," went Cisco afterwards while Joe and Axel laughed.

"Belén?" they heard a man a call. Belén glanced back just as a young man with dark hair and matching eyes approached them. "I lost you!"

Smiling apologetically, Belén gestured to the toy she held and then Axel. "He wanted some things."

"You sure it was only the four year old?" the man teased much like Cisco had, and, just like before, Belén hit him on the head with the inflatable hammer.

"Everyone is so mean today," Belén huffed.

"While you huff and gruff, I'm gonna introduce myself to your friends." The man extended a hand to the surprised Cisco. "Mark Forneez."

"Cisco Ramon," the other said slowly, suddenly eyeing Mark with a bit of distaste.

"Joe West," the older man was also eyeing Mark suspiciously.

"Mark is my old time friend from my aerial dancing group," Belén explained, noticing her friends' looks. "He's been helping me get back in shape for the show."

"You're coming right?" Mark then asked of the two men who had yet to say anything after introducing themselves. "Belén's really nervous because it's her first show after so many years."

"Yeah, we'll be there," Cisco broke out of his trance to respond.

"Great," Mark glanced back at Belén, "We should go. Ingrid's looking for us."

Belén nodded and handed him the inflatable hammer to take Axel's hand. "I'll see you guys tonight then," she said to Cisco and Joe.

"Are they, you know…?" Joe felt awkward asking the question on a woman that wasn't even related to him. But he knew that despite Barry purposely avoiding Belén, he still so very much cared for her.

"I have...no idea," Cisco admitted. They'd practiced together but Belén had never mentioned anything about dating again.

As Belén and Mark walked off, Belén was laughing. "Ingrid's so gonna kill you for that one."

They stopped at a stall where some of their other aerial dance friends were. Almost immediately, Axel spotted yet another toy he wanted and despite Belén telling him no, Mark offered a 'yes'. He took Axel's hand and smugly waved goodbye at Belén who didn't look so mad as she struggled not to laugh instead.

As she calmed, however, she felt like someone was looking at her. She glanced back but saw no one specific that had an interest in her. Thinking it was just her imagination, she focused back on her team. It would be impossible to spot Barry in the midst of so many people. But that was how he could catch brief moments of her without having to be so close and so...tempted to talk with her. She looked happy, and that was what he wanted the most. She didn't have to keep hurting because of him, no. She deserved better and she was finally getting it.

Barry wasn't too sure of her new friends since he preferred not to look them up like a jealous ex-boyfriend (which he told himself he was not) would. He just knew that they were part of her aerial team. He recognized only one, though, because he had met Mark the day Belén took him to the show Barry had bought her tickets to. And although it shouldn't, it irked Barry that Belén had spent so much time with Mark over these last couple of months.

And perhaps if Barry hadn't been so focused on his thoughts he would have seen a strange man snapping a picture of him from afar...as well as one of Belén's.

"Datura," the strange man mumbled and hurried to leave before anyone noticed him.

Time later, the mayor of the city appeared to address the massive crowd. He walked down the stage to stand before the podium. "Good morning, Central City," he began, "A year ago, our world changed. Our city became ground zero for... some pretty weird stuff. We got a new breed of criminal: Men and women who defied not only our laws, but physics and reason. But we got something else, too. We got the Flash! Our wounds run deep as we have lost people in the process, and I know many of you are afraid of what threats tomorrow may bring. But the Flash doesn't just protect us, he restores hope where it was lost. That's why I'm honored to present the key to the man who saved Central City: The Flash!" He raised a miniature golden key propped on a black platform intending for the Flash to take it.

There was a couple of minutes in which the crowd could only look around to see if the man of the hour would show up. But, thankfully, Barry sped straight up to the stage. Instantly, the crowd cheered for him.

The Mayor turned from the podium to address Barry. "The doors to Central City will forever be open for you, Flash."

Although heavily uncomfortable, Barry played the role the city so desperately wanted him to play and reached to take the key.

"LOOK OUT!" Joe suddenly screamed at the sight of a meals-on-wheels lunchtruck flying midair towards the stage.

Barry quickly took the mayor and zipped off the stage. The crowd screamed and dispersed as the truck crashed onto the stage. Among the crowd, Belén grabbed her nephew and ran to safety without looking back. Cops failed to stop the mysterious culprit who hid underneath a black, metal mask. He proved to be quite strong when he threw Barry over a cop's car with little effort.

Joe had to break Cisco from a sudden trance in order to get the man's newly-finished device that would apparently help them fight off metahumans. Cisco handed Joe a metal device fashioned in the manner of a bazooka or gun. Joe shot towards the metahuman and out sprang a metal clamp that attached itself to the metahuman's leg. It gave off electricity but instead of harming the metahuman, it enlarged him. Barry got up from his fall and spotted gas tanks meant to be used for the food. He rushed over and returned with two of them in his hands.

"What are you doing!?" Joe eyed the tanks in confusion.

"I'm throwing, you're shooting," Barry warned of the quick plan. He threw the tanks towards the metahuman and Joe swiftly shot at both of them, making them explode right over the metahuman. The two were blown back from the force but were able to look up in time to see the metahuman had also been blown back. His mask opened up for a split second to reveal a very familiar face underneath.

"That's Al Rothstein," Joe pointed with a shaking finger. "The body we found at the nuclear plant, he's alive!"

Al's mask re-closed again and he made his escape.

~ 0 ~

Later that same day, Cisco made a visit to Belén's home which, as he was seeing the woman in question planting a 'For sale' sign on the front yard, was about to become ex-home.

"Uuh, what are you doing?" Cisco came to a stop with an incredulous look.

Belén finished sticking the pole into the ground and looked back, clapping her hands to rid of dust. "Putting a sign up?"

"Wh-why?" Cisco's voice broke with incredible emotion that for a moment Belén laughed.

"Cisco, I'm moving to a smaller apartment - not out of the city of course."

"Oh thank God!" Cisco put a hand over his chest and came up to her, dramatically sighing. "I don't need this, you know!"

Belén rolled her eyes. "Cisco, c'mon! Think I would leave the city without telling you?" Cisco tilted his head at her, reminding her that she had in fact done that already. "Okay, I wouldn't do that _anymore_. I found a place, okay?"

"You did? And you didn't tell us?" Cisco feigned a heavy offence.

Belén lightly punched him on the arm. "Stop that!"

Cisco sobered up and saw Axel playing on the front porch with a couple of toys. Belén became serious and started to clean up the mess the sign on the yard had left.

"It's just hard to live here, Cisco," she said suddenly. "I lost my Dad, my sister and my twin. The house is just full of reminders. Plus-" she glanced at him, "-it's a lot cheaper to live in an apartment."

"Bells you know if you need anything you can ask me right?"

Belén smiled softly. "Of course. Now, since I know you're supposed to be at work, can I ask what you needed?"

Immediately a cheekish smile spread across Cisco's face. "So, actually, Joe and I have been looking into our new metahuman-"

"Even though I would assume Barry told you all 'no'?"

"Exactly-" Cisco nodded and went on, "-but Iris mentioned that when the guy went all high and tall, all the nearby x-ray machines totally, like, failed. So i think maybe there's something connected there."

"Reasonable," Belén concluded. "Uh, but, where do I come in?"

"Well, I really need to see Cait but I doubt she'll approve of me getting into Mercury Labs if I tell her beforehand what I'm planning so...could you come with me?"

"You want a free pass into Mercury Labs," Belén couldn't help chuckled. She always had a free entrance into Mercury Labs since her father used to work there.

"C'mon! Dr. McGee practically loves you and let's you waltz in right past through security any time you want. It would be a lot easier if you came."

"Cisco," Belén shook her head at him but couldn't stop laughing.

"Please come with me?" Cisco clapped his hands together to plead with her.

"Cisco…" Belén looked back at her nephew on the porch, "I have plans with Iris for lunch. She's gonna take Axel for the night since my show is in about-" she checked her phone's time, "-four hours. So I have no one to look after Axel right now."

"Bring him along, then!" Cisco easily devised the solution. "Caitlin is a sucker for kids. One big smile from Axel and we're good to go." Belén was still reluctant however. She hadn't exactly seen Caitlin since the singularity killed her husband. "Bells, please. The last fight had Barry thrown right into a cop's car-"

"Is he okay!?" Belén reacted fast and worried.

For a moment, Cisco wanted to smile, but if he did he knew the chances of Belén coming with him would go scarce. "He's fine, but next time he may not get so lucky. This guy can go Hulk if you know what I mean. So it would really help if we can get to Caitlin."

With that explanation, how could Belén say no? Of course she wanted to help, even if Barry didn't want it. "Let me just grab Axel a jacket," she said and rushed off into the house.

Cisco did a small punch in the air as she ran off.

~0~

In such a professional workspace, the last thing Caitlin expected to hear was a child's laughter in the hallway. The moment she looked up from her microscope, she saw Cisco, Belén and Axel walking into the lab. Cisco was instantly awed by the various machinery in the room. Belén could care less what was inside the room - she was more interested and quieting down the child with her.

"That is the last time Dr. McGee gives you a lollipop," she mumbled and walked him and herself up to Caitlin. "Hi Caitlin."

Caitlin smiled at the woman, and the child. "Hi Belén. Axel."

"Hi, Caitlin!" he exclaimed back and gasped at the wall full of funny porthole-like windows on the wall behind Caitlin. "Ooh!" he snatched his hand from Belén's and ran up to them.

At the same time, Cisco did the same and followed after him. "Sweet Sarek. Is that a 6K proton splicer?"

"A what-what now?" Belén crossed her arms.

Caitlin chuckled. "Yes, it is. Dr. McGee insists on having all the latest technology."

"Wow," Cisco looked back with a goofy smile on his face. "You deserve it."

"Cisco?" Belén called and pointed at Axel next to him who was trying to stick his lollipop into a hole of machine.

"You ruined your lollipop!" Cisco swiped the kid off the floor and brought him back to his aunt. "I spotted you, at the rally today, and I'm guessing you saw what happened," he said to Caitlin who sighed in return

"Cisco, I can't come back."

"Trust me," Belén bitterly laughed, "Barry wouldn't want you there anyways."

Cisco felt awkwardness begin to settle in the room and decided to change the topic for the real reason they were there in the first place. "Okay, check this out: we found this-" he pulled a Ziploc bag from his pocket that held a small, metal squared object inside, "-on a victim at the nuclear power plant, but the badge shows absolutely nothing at all, which is so weird. What's also weird is that at the same time that meta-human grew, all the x-ray machines within a mile radius just went belly-up."

Caitlin politely let him talk, get it out of his system, but when she saw where he was headed she had to cut him off. If only she could. "Cisco-"

Cisco put the object on her desk, sliding towards her. "Just... if you could just... See if the badge was tampered with or something. I mean, if it's broken, or... Whatever. It'll really help."

Belén his her smile as Caitlin mocked a scolding face at Cisco. With her face, she moved over to the shelves opposite of them to get started on the task.

"I've gotta get going," Belén announced and set Axel on the floor, this time keeping his small hand in a tight hold. "Iris is waiting and I've got a busy, busy night."

Caitlin remembered and called to her just as she turned to leave. "Thank you for the invitation."

Belén glanced back, "You know the public's invited. I just made it my business to make sure and invite my friends specifically."

Caitlin smiled nonetheless. "Still. I know I haven't been good at keeping connections with everyone, but…" and even as she fought against it, her eyes teared up.

"Cait, it's okay," Belén came back to give her a hug. "I understand that process - grieving and mourning is difficult. We get it. We all do."

Caitlin saw Cisco also giving her a nod of agreement. She smiled at both of them and promised she would be there at the community theater just like the rest.

~0~

Because Jitters was still out of business from the singularity - though there were rumors someone was apparently constructing it again during nights - Iris had chosen another small cafe shop to eat lunch at. She and Belén had taken to going there during their lunch breaks, even getting to know some of the employees there. Iris was already sitting at a booth when she saw Belén and Axel coming in. Belén was holding a small backpack meant to hold all of Axel's belongings Iris would need for the night. She wasn't quite sure what Axel would throw at her but she was insistent with Belén to leave the boy with her for the night while Belén celebrated her night. Iris just wanted to help Belén in any way that she could. She couldn't imagine taking on a four year old and adding a second job was easy.

"Sorry we're a bit late," Belén ushered Axel into the booth. "I had to go with Cisco to Mercury Labs and then someone-" she threw a look to Axel who was already reaching for a menu on the table, "-couldn't decide if he wanted to bring along Woody or Buzz Lightyear."

Axel could feel his aunt's eyes on him and made his defense. "They re my favorite!"

"Always go with Woody," Iris wagged a finger at Axel who giggled in return.

"I took both!" he informed excitedly. "Aunt Belén says you don't have toys anymore."

"I'm sure we can dig through Barry's things and find something," Iris promised and looked at her friend. "Did I hear you went to Mercury Labs with Cisco?"

"Uh, yeah," Belén reached for a menu and started to skim through it. "He said something about needing Cait to look over a badge or something. Apparently it connects back to your metahuman problem."

" _Our_ metahuman problem," Iris corrected.

Belén lowered the menu and, with a face, "Barry would disagree."

"Well, that needs to change," Iris retorted but Belén scoffed.

"Good luck."

Iris was a bit annoyed to see Belén in such indifference. She knew it was a fake. It _had_ to be. Belén wouldn't stop caring like that no matter how much she tried.

"Belén, you can help us changing his mind-"

"I can't do anything anymore, remember?" Belén interjected seriously. "That's what happens when a couple breaks up. You, though, you're his sister, you can help him more than anyone." Belén shifted uncomfortably and went back to reading off the menu.

"I don't care what you nor Barry say, I _know_ you still care, both of you."

Belén's eyes flickered up from the menu. "He talks about me still?" Iris made a 'duh' face in return. "Iris...it doesn't matter anymore. You want him to stop going out there alone? Then stop listening to him for God's sake! He keeps pushing you all away because you _let_ him. It gets easier when you stop pushing."

Iris' eyes blinked fast for a couple of seconds before she got an idea. "Oh my god, you are a genius. I should have came to you months ago!"

Belén playfully rolled her eyes. When the waitress came by, she ordered Axel a grilled cheese sandwich and a salad for herself. Iris ordered herself a chicken sandwich.

"I miss soda so much," Belén dramatically sighed as she passed Axel a child's cup of soda.

Iris smiled in amusement. She knew Belén was eating light for her show in a couple of hours, but over the months of training she had to eat healthier in order to be able to perform at her top shape.

"And donuts - man I really miss donuts," Belén shook her head.

"Just one more night," Iris reminded for support.

Belén nodded and took a breath. "I'm actually really nervous. What if I mess up the dance?"

"Hey, you will be perfect!" Iris shut down any thoughts like those. "My dad, Axel and I will be there front row, right Axel?"

"Yes!" Axel nodded and took a sip from his soda.

"Caitlin agreed to come too," Belén shared with a small smile.

"Oh my god, that's great!" Iris felt this could truly be the returning to normal she really wanted to see. "We'll be there, don't worry."

And she didn't say it out loud but she knew Barry wouldn't miss it either. He had always been curious of how the whole aerial dancing worked to begin with. Knowing Belén was the _star_ of the show, there was no way he would skip out on it.

Iris' phone rang and when she pulled it out from her purse she showed it to Belén. "It's a text from Cisco."

"What's he say?" Belén wondered.

"Caitlin came through with the examination apparently. There was a connection like I thought." Iris looked up expecting to see more interest from Belén, but there was none. "The metahuman uses radiation or something to fuel his powers," Iris tried again in a different pitch but still Belén did nothing. "Do you just not care anymore?" Iris frowned.

"Who cares?" Belén tried. "Not like I'll be working there. And even if you follow my advice, what then? Will I just waltz in-"

"Yes! Yes you will!" Iris found herself near shouting that she stopped talking for a moment to better collect herself. "You should," she began after a minute and in a quieter tone, "Because Barry needs you." Belén began to shake her head but Iris was never one to give up. "He says he doesn't but he does. I know it. My dad knows it. Cisco knows it. _Barry_ knows it." Iris sighed, hating to be so insistent but someone had to do it. "You need him too. Don't you care about him?"

Belén's indifference faltered for a split second - and Iris thought it was enough to break through - before she murmured an excuse of having to go use the restroom.

~0~

Following Iris' advice, she, Cisco, Joe and professor Stein met up at STAR Labs to discuss what Caitlin had provided Cisco with. Almost five minutes after getting into the computers, Barry got the alert and sped over thinking someone tried breaking in.

"What are you guys doing here?" he asked, slightly breathless.

Iris looked up from the computer Cisco was showing them on. "Working," she said like it was obvious.

"So, Caitlin was right," Cisco said after professor Stein looked over the information.

"Yes, all humans contain small amounts of radiation due to contact with cell phones, microwaves, televisions, et cetera," Stein replied. "Our bodies are natural conductors."

Cisco thought out loud. "I think our meta's been sucking up all the radiation around him and using it to power himself."

Iris understood and gasped. "Which is why the x-ray machines at the hospital failed the day of the rally."

"So if we want to find him, we gotta look for places without radiation!" Cisco concluded and delved on a computer, suddenly missing it so much.

"Alright, guys, I don't want any of you here right now," Barry motioned them they could leave. However this time, they were all acting on Belén's advice.

"Tough. You need your partners," Joe pointed at him. "You need your friends."

Iris looked up again and walked over to Barry. "Barry, everyone in this room cares about you, but we also care about this city. We all want to make a difference, and that means fighting meta-humans, and that means working with the Flash. You can't deny us that. Not anymore."

Cisco suddenly cheered. "Got him! There's a three block dead zone near a hazardous waste reclamation plant. It should be blooming with rads, and right now it's at zero!"

"That's where you'll find your atom smasher!" Stein exclaimed so excitedly. "Because he absorbs atomic power, and he, well, smashes."

Cisco seemed in awe of the man. "Come here!" he embraced Stein in a tight hug.

"That's a great name. Welcome to the team!"

Impatient Barry tried yet again to make them leave. "Great, guys, thank you. You can go now, all right?"

"Barry, you need to let Cisco and Stein figure out a way to stop this guy-" Joe began but, now irritated they weren't listening to him Barry cut him off.

"No, I don't!" he sped off with his suit.

Cisco picked up a small ear device from the desk that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Barry left his comm system behind. We can't talk to him. He's on his own."

Indeed Barry had gone off alone to find Al again. The metahuman turned out to be exactly where Cisco had said. But in the cortex, they weren't prepared to let Barry stay on his own. Cisco looked for security cameras to help them see what Barry was doing.

Barry used a whirlwind move on Al but only mildly pushed Al back. Seeing it hadn't worked, Barry went in to punch him. Al grabbed an upperhand and struck Barry around the collarbone. He rolled into the ground and before he could even blink, Al seized him by the neck and slammed him against a brick wall... _repeatedly._.

It proved that he did need his friends. Because back there, they managed to get into the alarm system and activated it to give Barry the distraction he needed to get away.

He sped back into the STAR Labs building, coming to a stumbling stop in the corridor. He stumbled side to side, his head feeling like it was still being slammed against a wall. With no control, Barry collapsed to the floor. Seconds later, the others emerged to help him.

"Oh my God!" Iris watched as her father and Cisco picked the unconscious Barry off the ground and headed for the cortex. Without thinking, she rushed for her purse and pulled out her phone.

~0~

Belén sat on a makeup and hair chair watching as the stylist gently placed a flower crown with big, hot-pink Azaleas around it over her hair. She heard her phone ringing on the table and reached to answer it.

"Hello?" Belén was cautious in placing her phone over her ear. The hairstyle was a nifty one that still needed to settle with the hairspray.

"Belén, you gotta get over here!" Iris began to shout on the other line.

"What? Go where?" Belén frowned. She mouthed a 'thank you' to the stylist and waited for her to go before continuing with Iris on the phone. "Iris, please stop shouting I can't understand you!"

"It's that metahuman I told you earlier! Barry didn't listen to us and went to fight him-"

"Is he okay?" Belén got up from her chair and turned away from the mirror. "Iris?"

"He's, well...he's outcold, but he got hit real bad. And on the head!"

Belén sighed, feeling her heart clench as she felt Iris' distress. "Is he going to be okay…?"

"I don't know. Probably. With his fast healing. But, we think it may be awhile until he wakes up again."

Belén bit her lip and glanced at the clock striking seven.

"Belén, I know you still care," Iris spoke after a moment of silence. "That's why I called you."

"Iris, I can't do this anymore…" Belén shook her head. "I can't...I can't keep listening to the same thing over and over. It's done. Barry and I are _done_."

"Yeah, well, if that was true then you wouldn't still be on the line with me," Iris cleverly responded with. "Barry's going to be outcold for a while. Do what you want with that information." She hung up after that, leaving Belén to ponder.

She looked at the clock on the wall again. Clutching her phone to her chest, she thought long and hard.

~ 0 ~

Joe remained alone sitting beside Barry's unconscious body in the cortex. Everyone else had gone off to get ready for Belén's show, but he had opted to remain back for when Baryr woke up he wouldn't be alone. When he heard someone clearing their throat he half-expected Iris to be there but instead found Belén there.

"Belén?" he rose from his chair, staring at the woman questionably.

She had come in with a styled hair, loose curls around her face and a tilted Azalea flower crown over her head. "Hi…" she greeted nervously, her eyes drifting to Barry behind him. "Um, Iris called...and she...she said something about Barry fighting a metahuman?"

"Oh, yeah. He won't stop doing things alone," Joe sighed and glanced back at Barry. "I don't know how else to get through to him."

"He's stubborn like that," Belén slowly came forwards.

"Yeah, he is." Joe looked back at her. "Aren't you supposed to be doing that...show thing?"

"Yes, in about thirty minutes," Belén nodded her head. She managed to sneak out of the theater without anyone catching her, but by now they were probably going crazy trying to find her.

"And you came here?" Joe raised an eyebrow at the sheepish woman. "For Barry?"

"I'm crazy like that," Belén turned her pink-nailed hands to her palms. "Do you mind if I, uh…" she pointed at Barry, "I promise I'll be like five minutes max. I gotta get back fast."

"Yeah, no, go ahead!" Joe quickly made himself sparse. With any luck, Barry would wake up while she was there and listen to her.

Belén waited for him to leave before she went up to Barry's side. She sat down on Joe's chair and looked at Barry. "Look at where are now," she sighed. She reached for her flower crown that was threatening to fall and pulled it off her head, placing it on the small metal table beside the bed. "I keep telling them all that I don't care anymore but apparently I'm not a good liar. I do care, Barry, and still so much." She raised her head and revealed reddish eyes. "It's been six months and it still breaks my heart that you decided for both of us we're better off without each other."

* * *

" _How could you think that, Barry!?" Belén practically screamed at him. She watched Barry pace back and forth in her living room. "How could you think that I would ever agree with this!?"_

" _Belén, it's for the best!" Barry stopped to look at her. He had to force himself to look at her while she cried because of him. "Look at you - every time you cry it's because of something that I did. I don't...I can't do that to you anymore."_

" _That's not true!" Belén continued to shout._

" _I failed at doing the one thing that would end up helping you as much as it would have me. I didn't change the time line and now my mother's dead, my father's in jail." Barry reached for her arms. "I...couldn't bring back your dad, I let your sister go to jail and your brother's in a coma. Nothing changed."_

" _Barry, **please** ," Belén's voice broke. "I **need** you."_

" _Soon, you won't," Barry promised her, his own heart breaking with those words. It was going to be hard staying away from her, letting her move on from him, but he felt it was the right thing to do. "I'm sorry, Bells, but people died because of me...and the last thing I **ever** want to see is the same thing to happen to you." He kissed her forehead and looked down at her. "I want you to be happy."_

_Belén felt his hands leave her arms after. "Barry?" he shook his head and made his way for the front door. Belén turned around and watched with tears in her eyes as he walked out._

* * *

In the present, Belén was struggling to control her tears. She couldn't ruin her makeup or else she really would get it later. "I got it now, what you were trying to do. I didn't agree with it - I still don't - but I understood what you wanted. The day you stop blaming yourself for things that you had no control of will be the day I can finally understand science." She shook her head and rose from her chair. Her hand reached for one of Barry's and it suddenly felt like she was at home again. "I miss you, Barry. I _do_ care, but it doesn't matter I guess." She gripped his hand for a moment then let it go. "You know-" she bit her lip as a small, bitter smile spread across her face, "-tonight was the night I was supposed to say goodbye to the Azalea and bury her for good...but I decided I didn't want to do that. Instead, I guess I'm saying goodbye to _you_." She stifled a sob and bit the inside of her cheek. Pressing a hand to the bed, she leaned to Barry and kissed his cheek. "Goodbye, Barry."

It was like she was making an escape with the way she rushed out of the room. Her tears were beginning to fall so she had to keep patting the sides of her eyes. She just wouldn't look back anymore.

Joe returned to the cortex a while later. He came back to his chair and spotted the Azalea flower crown Belén accidentally left behind. There passed fifteen minutes of utter silence before Barry gasped awake.

"Hey!" Joe quickly set out to make sure he was fine.

"Where is everyone?" Barry breathed heavily as he returned to normal. The last thing he remembered was escaping Al's wrath, but that had only been by a bare minimum.

"They're all at the city's theater," Joe cleared his throat. "It's near eight."

"Right…" of course Barry remembered what was on tonight. He had made plans to sneak in and get a glimpse of the star.

"You're not gonna do this anymore," Joe announced after a minute. "For the last six months I've given you your space to work all this out, come back to us. But today proved that you'd rather just get yourself killed."

Barry stared up at the ceiling and bitterly laughed. "It's better than getting my friends killed."

Joe expected that sort of answer and shook his head. "You want me to tell you that it wasn't your fault? I can't. It was. Guess what? You weren't the only person making decisions that day. All of the rest of us were there too. Eddie and Ronnie, they chose to help you stop Wells, and stop that…"

"Singularity," Barry said for him.

"Singularity thing. It's on all of us, Barry. So stop with this hogging all the blame and regret. We gotta live with it. _Move on_."

A single tear strolled down Barry's cheek. "What do I do now?"

"Well, I know that you've been rebuilding Central City at night. It's just bricks and paint. Maybe you should start trying to rebuild…" Joe reached for the flower crown and held it for Barry to see, "...things that really matter."

For a moment, Barry was confused to find that there. His eyes trailed the Azaleas and soon enough he made his own theories. Joe handed the crown over to Barry who took it with such delicacy. He stared at it long and hard; his heart felt like it was breaking all over again.

~ 0 ~

The theater had created an Azalea themed show to give tribute to the fallen metahuman. In the front row there was Iris, Axel, Cisco, Caitlin, even professor Stein and his wife Clarissa had gotten prime seats. They all got to watch their friend climb and swing on bright silk in a graceful manner. It was truly amazing to see people so balanced enough to hold their entire bodies using only one silk. Ones would twist on their feet, another would drop in a rapid unwinding manner, etc.

Barry appeared midway through the show, but as Iris had predicted it was without letting others know; he chose to remain in the back towards the sidelines. The last thing he wanted was to break Belén's focus. His heart nearly leaped out from his chest when he would see her take those consecutive falls down. He truly felt like at one point she would slip and actually fall to the floor...but she proved to be just that talented. His eyes followed her every movement. At one point, she'd done an incredible ankle hang which consisted of her hanging upside down with a silk wrapped around _one_ ankle. She pulled her upper body down, making one thing it had to have hurt her body at some point but the truth was she'd been practicing really hard to get the move right. And judging by the cheers of the crowd, she'd done good. Her last act had her sitting back up then pushing herself to once again be on her toes. She twirled herself various times then let herself swing backwards, eventually swinging upside down using only her feet.

Barry may or may not have lost it thinking she would fall. _You're trying to kill me_ , he swallowed hard.

They were nearing the end of the show, and in all that time Barry had not let his eyes focus on anything that was not Belén. She looked beautiful, absolutely beautiful and at home doing what she loved to do. She seemed happy, and for a moment Barry thought himself selfish for trying to come back to her.

Had he not been so focused on her, he might have seen a hooded figure on the other side of the audience walking in.

Belén swung the silk around her left thigh and used it to twirl. She passed the silk over her waistline then gently twirled again. She did a fast-paced, final twirl and began to climb her way upwards. Just as she made to wrap the silk around her again there was a loud gunshot that rang in the room. Immediately she felt something collide into her left arm, just above her elbow. She let out a shaky gasp as she used both her hands to hold onto the silk. With the pain coursing through her arm, her strength wasn't quite enough for a strong hold. In the crowd there was duress as everyone tried to figure out who had fired. Iris had grabbed Axel and held him impossibly close while Barry began to scope out the area.

But the hooded figure shot again and this time it went for Belén's collarbone, effectively knocking her backwards.

Barry sped towards the stage and caught her in time. He stopped outside the theater and looked at her shaking body. "Bells?"

Despite being in crucial pain, Belén managed to express her shock of seeing him. "B-Barry? You...you came - ah!" She threw her head back with a groan.

"H-Hang on okay, I'm gonna get you to the hospital!" Barry sped off for the only hospital Belén could safely be admitted into.

~ 0 ~

What seemed like hours later, Dr. Nina Clarke walked into the hospital's waiting room where Barry, Cisco, Caitlin, Iris (with a sleeping Axel in her arms) anxiously waited to get word on their friend. It had been a mess getting out of the theater with all the cops and the witnesses. Joe had remained on site to personally get the details while the rest headed to the hospital to see their friend. The entire audience had seen 'the Flash' take the show's lead away and so the aerial team was a bit more comfortable thinking their teammate would be good.

"Hey," Barry was the first to see Nina and quickly rushed up to her. He hadn't been able to sit down like the others. "H-how is she?"

"She's gonna have a hell of pain for some time but she'll be fine," Nina said to everyone's relief. "The bullets didn't get far so nothing important has been damaged. She'll just have some patches and probably will have to restrain the use of her left arm for a bit."

"But sh-she'll be completely fine?" Barry needed to hear that nothing would happen to Belén.

"She'll be just fine," Nina confirmed. "And no one here knows anything about her meta powers, alright? Did the records myself."

"Thanks," Barry said. In the moment, he probably could have let Caitlin help Belén, but it would've been a lot harder since everything at STAR Labs was effectively put away except his suit.

"Can we see her?" Caitlin inquired from Nina, getting up from her spot beside Iris.

"Yes, but not too many people," Nina warned them.

"Promise," Cisco raised a hand.

Nina smiled but as she looked around she grew serious. She made a motion with her hand for them to get close. When they did, she got to business. "What actually happened out there? I thought it was just a theater show?"

"It was meant to be," Cisco muttered. "But then someone shot her - twice!"

"I couldn't see anyone from where I was," Barry shook his head.

"And none of us saw anyone either," Caitlin added.

Nina sighed at Belén's luck. "Well, I hope they catch that person. Belén was really excited to get back on stage. She deserved better." With that, she left the group to continue her shift.

"I'm gonna go see Bells," Cisco declared and glanced at Barry to see if it was fine. When Barry gave a nod, Cisco took Caitlin with him into the hallway for Belén's room.

Barry turned back to sit next to Iris when they both saw Joe coming into the room. "Hey," Barry hurried to meet the older man, "So, did you get him?"

"No," Joe shook his head and felt bad as the other two sighed.

"Did you at least get clues?" Iris asked.

"There were a couple of witnesses saying they saw a man in a black mask and hoodie walking out of the theater-"

"That's Al Rothstein," Barry said instantly, his hatred for the new metahuman multiplying tenfold. "It's got to be."

Joe nodded in agreement. He had thought the same thing when he got the descriptions from the witnesses.

"I'm gonna get him," Barry gritted his teeth together and made a move for the exit.

Joe grabbed his arm and yanked him back. "You are not going anywhere."

"Joe, he _shot_ -"

"I know what he did. Everyone knows what he did. But you are not going to go after him until we have a good, clear plan," Joe said and looked at Iris for some backup.

The woman nodded her head. "He's right, Barry. You're just gonna get yourself hurt and when Belén wakes up you won't be there. Is that what you want?"

Barry, frustrated, turned away from the two. "No," he muttered.

"Then please, sit down and wait for Cisco and Caitlin to come back so we can go in and see Bells."

Like a child, Barry did as told and took a seat next to Iris.

"I'm gonna go give a call to Detective Greene," Joe turned to leave when Barry called to him, getting up as well.

"Wait, you're calling Belén's mom?"

"Uh, yeah," Joe thought it was a given that it was going to happen. "If my kid was shot I'd like to know too."

"Yeah, it's just...Bells doesn't have the best relationship with her…"

"Veronica can be whatever Belén wants, but she still is the mother and she deserves to know what happened to her daughter." Joe gave his last word on that topic and walked away.

"He's right," Iris said after a moment. Barry turned around and went back for his seat. As he delve his face into his hands, Iris stared at him. "So? What are you gonna do?"

Barry raised his head to meet her questionable face. "What?"

Iris nodded towards the hallway, regarding Belén. "You just saw her getting shot - twice - and you're not thinking about how to talk with her now?"

"It's a bit difficult after six months," Barry argued and took in a breath. "What am I supposed to say? 'Oh, hey Bells, sorry for once again letting one of my enemies hurt you. Other than that, how are you?'" he shot Iris a sharp look.

"You cannot be blaming yourself for that," Iris shook her head. She really should have seen that one coming. "You don't even know what Al was planning. He doesn't know who Belén is, remember?"

"Then why else would he go after her specifically?" Barry asked, wishing he knew that answer.

"I don't know," Iris came up blank as well. "Maybe he heard that the show was in honor of the Flash's supposed deceased partner and he thought if he made an appearance you would be there."

"I'm gonna find him...and he's gonna pay," Barry swore, clenching one fist.

Iris smiled and looked ahead. _About damn time_ , she thought.

~ 0 ~

As Nina had warned the group later in the night, Belén had not regained consciousness for the entire night and following morning. She missed out on the various visitors that came to see how she was doing. Among those were her old college friends, her aerial team and Linda Park from CC Picture News. She slept through it all.

It was midday when she finally gave signs of life apart from her beeping machine beside her. Her fingers twitched as she drew in the breath she always took before waking up.

Her vision was a bit blurry till she blinked it away. When she did, she found Barry sitting on a chair beside her bed. It took her a moment to deduce that this was indeed real and not some sort of dream.

"Bells?" Barry saw her confused expressions and worried there was something wrong with her. "Belén? Can you hear me?"

Belén's gaze fixated on him and for a moment all she did was stare, her eyes squinting.

"There's something wrong," Barry deduced, nodding to himself and moving to get up from his chair. "I'm going to go call Nina."

Belén had to salivate her unused mouth in order to croak his name and stop him. The moment she tried to move she felt a sharp jab at her on her arm and collarbone. "Oh!"

Barry instinctively turned around and ran back. "Hey! Don't try to move, okay?"

"Oooh…" she scrunched her nose and turned her head to her left side, looking down at the large white patch sticking out from under her hospital gown. "What the hell…?"

"Do you not remember what happened?" Barry wondered if the entire thing had passed so fast that she hadn't retained it. He pulled his chair closer and sat down, reaching out to make sure she wouldn't move anymore.

"I was…" she looked to the side, "...dancing...I think."

"Yeah, you were. You were performing, remember?"

"But there was, um, uh...there was a…"

"A gunshot," Barry said for her and elicited a quick look from her. "Someone shot you, twice."

"Of course," Belén sighed. "That's the only way you'd talk to me again."

Barry felt the jab at his heart he knew he deserved so much. "Bells…"

"Because it's always like that, isn't it?" she slowly looked at him again. "I have to be near death for you to speak to me after some fight."

"You have every right to be mad with me-"

"I'm not mad, Barry," Belén sighed and looked away for a moment. "I was in the beginning. I was _so_ mad at you. But then, after a while...I understood your reasons - I didn't agree with them - but I knew what you were trying to do. Even though-" she sarcastically glanced at him, "-it was the stupidest thing ever."

"Yeah, it was," Barry agreed with a fast nod of his head. "But I was trying to keep you safe, to make sure that you were happy."

"Do I _look_ happy?" came the rapid snap.

"You looked incredibly happy when you were dancing."

Belén turned her head at him, staring in silence. "You were there?"

"I was there," Barry started to smile as he remembered her ethereal dances. "You were stunning. I have never seen talent like that before." There was a creep of a blush settling over Belén's face as she listened to his praises. "You were the star of the show - everyone loved you. I loved seeing you like that, happy while you did what you wanted. It's exactly what I wanted to see from you."

"That wasn't a decision you had the right to make," Belén whispered. "I was happy doing the aerial dancing, course, because it was something I always loved to do. But to say that I'm truly happy is a lie. I'm not."

"But you were, I saw you," Barry insisted. "You went out with your friends...you laughed, you smiled…" he would not add the parts where he was sure she was beginning to date that Mark.

"They were my friends, what was I supposed to do?" Belén raised an eyebrow. "Dump my problems on them? That's what my therapist is for. You made a decision that did not involve just you, period. You were wrong. You still are. Do you know that I said goodbye to you yesterday? Before my show? I actually left to go see you after you fought that metahuman...and I said my goodbye because I thought I deserved better than to mope for someone who didn't care anymore-"

"Hey, you can be mad but I never stopped caring about you," Barry made a point to correct and leave clarified.

"You didn't care enough to take my feelings into consideration," Belén's voice cracked. "I lost people and instead of just being there for me, you decided to break up with me? Who does that?" she cleared off some tears from her face with her good arm. "For a genius, you're pretty stupid."

Barry had to smile a bit at her last insult that had been more playful than actually insulting. It meant he still had a shot. "I am," he agreed. "And I wanna make things right. I messed up _hugely_ with you. But I care. I really do. And I may be late but I would really like a second chance with you."

She could not deny that she wouldn't like to have him back, but something prevented her from telling him that right away. She rubbed some tears off her cheek and sighed. "I need to think about it."

The fact she hadn't accepted as fast as he'd like put Barry on edge. What if he had been late? What if she was already moving on from him? If that was the case then he would have to accept it, no doubt.

"I just...I spent six months trying to get over you," she tried to explain her indecision. "I need to think. Please."

"Yeah, no, don't worry," Barry put on his best face for her, leaning away from her. "I get it. I do." And he truly did. He knew he was taking a big chance asking for her to take him back, and he expected a harder challenge. It just didn't stop it from hurting.

Belén could see the disappointment in his eyes and felt bad. But she just couldn't blatantly go back to him.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, while everyone attended to the new metahuman - without Belén's knowledge - Iris and Linda had come over to see her and spend time with her.

"These are some nice flowers," Linda had stopped by one of the tables against the wall where there were several pots of flowers and bouquets of them. "Are those Azaleas?" she eyed the hot pink flowers.

Iris sent a knowing smile at Belén who chuckled.

"Yeah, apparently the flower shops are really abundant with them at the moment," Belén responded the clueless Linda.

"Yeah," the woman turned around, "It's in honor of the Azalea or something."

Iris moved over to grab one of the chairs and pulled it beside Belén's bed. "So, I brought you your laptop so you can Netflix while you're here." Belén laughed as Iris pulled out her laptop and placed it on the small bed stand beside her. "And you don't have to worry about Axel, we're all going to look after him until you're back on your feet."

"Yeah, and your job is safe, don't worry," Linda added. Everyone at CC Picture News heard of their co-worker's accident and of course understood she would have to miss some days, probably weeks, as she recuperated.

"Thank you guys so much," Belén was able to release a true sigh of relief. Being stuck in bed with nothing but her thoughts really stressed her out as she got to thinking of all the bills and Axel and her job.

"Of course," Linda smiled and eyed her friend. "So, redundant question I know, but, how are you feeling?"

"If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me that question today I would be rich enough to own half the city," Belén playfully rolled her eyes while the two women chuckled.

"I imagine you've had a lot of visitors," Iris hummed innocently while inspecting her nails. Belén thanked the heavens that Linda had come with Iris so that they would _not_ talk about Barry. That is the last thing she needed right now, honestly.

"Yeah but none of them brought chocolates-" Linda was once again eyeing the gifts brought, "-how rude. And cheap."

Belén genuinely laughed for the first time but only lasted a couple of seconds before it ended with groans due to her collarbone and arm burning. "Oh, maybe crack jokes later, please."

Linda apologized and pulled a chair to sit on the other side of the bed. "Okay, serious time now. Iris and I were going to write an article together-"

"You two?" Belén's eyes flickered from Linda to Iris. "But Linda, you do sports."

"I know, but this is a topic we're both interested in," Linda smiled at Iris, apparently the two already settled for it.

"And we want your input as well," Iris looked at Belén with a mischievous tint in her eyes. "It's about the Azalea."

Before Belén could even react, Linda went on to explain. "We thought since the theater didn't get to finish her tribute, maybe Iris and I could write a killer article that gives a proper goodbye to the Azalea."

Belén's eyebrows raised. _Goodbye_?

"We wanted your ideas," Linda said, anxiously waiting for Belén's response. "It would be the three us of on the byline for the first time. Do you want to do it?"

Belén had become silent as many thoughts rushed through her mind. Iris suddenly wondered if she and Linda had picked the wrong time to bring up the delicate topic with Belén. When Linda had talked to her about the idea of writing a last article for the Azalea, Iris was so sure that it was only right that the Azalea herself had a chance to be a part of it.

"Bells?" Iris softly called to her friend after Linda tried for a full minute. "Hey?" she reached for Belén's good arm and gently nudged. "Are you okay?"

Belén suddenly seemed determined when she nodded her head. "I want to do it," she declared. "And I already have an idea." Linda seemed happy she agreed and immediately asked what it was. Belén took a deep breath, knowing that when she spoke her next words there would be no going back. "I don't think the Azalea's dead at all."

There were two very different reactions in response. Iris seemed horrified of what Belén had said, her head tilted a bit to the side with a look on her face that just screamed 'what are you doing!?'. Meanwhile, Linda looked like she thought she had just heard wrong.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Belén?" she chuckled a bit. "We all know she's dead. We saw that hole, thing...and-"

"You saw the blackhole, and the Flash, but not the Azalea," Belén corrected. "I mean...everyone is fixated on the idea that the Azalea died trying to help the Flash save the day when in reality we don't know what happened to her."

"Belén…" Iris whispered, "...are you...sure?"

Belén understood her question perfectly and nodded firmly. She was going to plant the seed of her eventual return.

"The Azalea is out there. And she's coming back."

~ 0 ~

Now with the full help of his friends, Barry had a plan to stop Al once and for all. Using a Batman-like symbol, he had lured Al into a random alleyway and was itching to get his well-needed revenge for Belén. He didn't care if Belén took him back or not - Al was going to pay for what he did to her.

"You want me?" he stepped towards Al with a cocky gesture. "You're gonna have to catch me."

Al smirked, thinking it was going to be an easy game. He needed to go home already. When Barry sped off, Al doubled his size and chased after him. Following Cisco's plan, Barry moved into a local nuclear plant that was active. Al slowed down his pace once Barry slowed down as well. The speedster slowly backed away down the room until he entered a glowing blue, tall, circular room/container.

"Didn't think I could catch you, huh?" Al kept his smug face.

"No, I knew you could," Barry responded in the same smug tone. "Now, Cisco!"

From STAR Labs, Cisco had hacked into the nuclear room's power system and activated the lockdown of the smaller room. Before the door slid shut, Barry sped out of it and left Al trapped inside. He watched as the room flooded radiation, causing a breakdown in Al as his body was unable to absorb it all. He returned to his regular size and collapsed on the floor.

"The radiation's been cleared. It's safe for you to go in," Cisco informed Barry through the comms.

When the door re-opened, Barry stepped inside. He kept to the wall just in case Al burst with newfound energy. Although, Al was merely twitching and gasping on the floor which ruled that idea out.

"You're not hurting anyone else," Barry promised him as he bent down beside Al. " Why did you want to kill me?"

"He promised he'd take me home... if I killed you," Al answered through strained words.

"Who? Who promised you that?"

"Zoom."

Well, that made no sense. It sounded like Al named a television show. Barry discarded it in favor of something he truly cared about. "And that girl you shot at the theater? Because I know that was you. Was that meant to be a trap?"

"No…" Al admitted without hesitation. He knew he wasn't making it either way. "It was a...test…"

"What!?" Barry had become even more furious. "What kind of test!? What for!? ANSWER ME!"

"For Datura," Al released a final breath before he died.

~ 0 ~

"I can't believe you did that," Iris closed the laptop between her and Belén after their series was over.

"The whole time we were watching Sense8 you were thinking about the Azalea?" Belén shot the woman a comical look.

"I'm sorry, but knowing that you plan to revive the Azalea is a bit to process!" Iris dramatically threw her hands in the air. "I mean, how are you gonna do that? The city thinks you've been dead for 6 months now."

"I have a plan," Belén promised. "I just need to pull some photos and add some theories. People love hearing theories."

Someone knocked on the open door of the room and sheepishly stepped in. "Good evening," Dr. Baeva greeted the two women politely.

"Dr. Baeva," Belén tried straightening up a bit on the bed to greet the woman but immediately regretted it. "Ow…"

"Belén, stop moving so much," Iris scolded, thinking by now Belén would've learned. She shook her head and reached for her purse sitting on the bed stand. "I should get going. Caitlin was looking after Axel but I thought him staying with me might be better for him."

"Thank you so much for looking after him," Belén couldn't stop repeating.

Iris chuckled. "Don't worry. I will be back tomorrow, okay?" she wagged a finger and Belén nodded. With a polite' goodbye' for Dr. Baeva, she left the room.

"I only just heard…" Dr. Baeva began as she made her way to Belén's side. "Dear Lord, how did this happen?"

Belén glanced at the door to see if any nurses or doctors were nearby before answering. "Apparently, it was the metahuman that attacked the Flash at the city's rally." When Iris had shared the group's belief of the culprit, Belén couldn't finish understanding what _she_ had to do with the metahuman's problems.

"Of course," Dr. Baeva sighed lightly. "So I imagine your friends have regrouped to see you?"

"Yeah," Belén nodded. If there was one thing she could say she was happy about was that this event had pulled her friends back together. "Even Caitlin had come by, and she hasn't spoken to any of us." Dr. Baeva was glad to hear of it. Belén hesitated to say her next thoughts, as this was not a session moment.

But, having seen her for six months, three times a week, had allowed Dr. Baeva to pick up when Belén was keeping things back. "You know, despite it not being technically a session, I am still bound by my patient's confidentiality contract." Belén's eyes drifted away, even more willing to speak. "I could ask how you're doing and probably annoy you with the question I'm sure you have heard plenty for today."

"I have," Belén mumbled and sighed. "I'm confused," she began. Dr. Baeva smiled to herself and took a seat where Iris had been. "Barry came by...and he actually talked to me. Like...sentences, thoughts...feelings," she added very quietly.

"Oh, and that's not good?" Dr. Baeva crossed a leg, looking like this was her office and Belén was visiting on her usual schedule.

"No, yeah, it...it was," Belén nodded. "See, yesterday I actually visited him...while he was...asleep-" she had to leave it at that and not mention his other identity, "-and I said goodbye. I went there thinking that I could let go of him." She swallowed hard, letting a couple of seconds passed by before she spoke again. "But then he came in today - actually Iris says he stayed the night and morning - and he talked, he explained...and he asked for a second chance."

Dr. Baeva didn't look too surprised it had happened in this way given the circumstances. Belén looked distraught with her confusion. "What exactly did you say?" she inquired from the metahuman.

"That I needed to think," Belén answered shyly. "I-I couldn't see myself saying 'yeah, Barry, let's just get back together like nothing ever happened'. It's not fair."

"So…you didn't say 'yes' because you didn't think it's fair?" Dr. Baeva asked plainly, but Belén took it a different way.

"Not like that! I mean…" Belén shut her eyes for a moment.

"You know I am not here to judge you," Dr. Baeva reminded when she felt like Belén was hesitating to speak again. "I simply review what you said."

"I don't think it's fair that after six months of ignoring me he comes back asking to be taken back," Belén said it loud and clear. That was what she felt, and if it was wrong then so be it.

"So then you're still mad about your breakup?"

"I think so, yeah," Belén admitted with a nod of her head.

"Okay, now do you think there is a chance that...you could accept a new relationship with Barry ever again?"

"...I want to," Belén also found herself admitting. "I do want to, but...but I don't...I don't want things to be like they used to."

Dr. Baeva tilted her head, trying to understand what that meant. "How do you mean 'like they used to be'?"

"Exactly what I said. You pointed out that I felt dependent on Barry for my well being, and I don't want that anymore," Belén shook her head. "Six months I tried getting rid of that, and I feel like I've done a good job."

"Belén, is it possible that perhaps you're primarily rejecting the idea of getting back together because you are afraid that your independant development will unravel?"

Belén looked down, only taking a moment to realize the answer was yes. "I do want to be with him...but not like before. I don't want him to always want to protect me."

"I think you are doing very well, Belén," Dr. Baeva genuinely smiled. "Six months ago you came to me wishing nothing but to get things back the way they used to be. Now you want to change for your benefit. But just remember, wanting to be with a man does not mean you are relinquishing your independence. You are human, Belén, and humans long to be with someone whether it's friends or family, or someone intimate. It's okay to want to be with someone. And it's also okay to let them try to protect you."

"Is it?" Belén asked with heavy doubt.

"Of course. Just because someone who cares about you tried to protect you doesn't mean you are suddenly dependent on them. It means they care for you that much. It's human nature to want to protect those we care about, no matter what our relationships are."

A warm smile spread across Belén's face. "Thank you, Dr. Baeva. I needed to hear that," she admitted. The psychologist smiled back, glad she had once again helped the metahuman.

Belén had her company leave after an hour or so, and she went back to Netflix. Nina came in when she could to see how she was doing, or sometimes just to chat. It was late when she had company again, but it still warmed her heart that he would come back despite her words.

"Hey," Barry walked in holding a small card by the looks of it.

"Hi," she greeted quietly.

"I'm only here to visit again," he raised his free hand in a solemn swear. Belén had to laugh. "And Axel made sure that I would give you this." He held out the closed card for her.

With her good arm, Belén took it and opened it with her fingers. Inside was nothing but scribbles with a prominent big round face with lines for eyes and a smile. "Axel," Belén had to laugh again.

"He's fine for tonight," Barry promised. "Iris knew just how to put him to sleep."

"Thank you," Belén said seriously.

"And listen, I came to tell you that the metahuman that did this to you is gone. He's not hurting you again."

"I don't understand why he wanted to hurt me in the first place."

Barry sighed, frustrated neither he nor the group could figure it out. "I don't know, but I'm gonna find out. I promise you."

Belén felt her stomach churn in that way it almost always did with him. Yeah, she missed that.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Barry dug into his jean's pocket, "Axel gave me a toy to go with that-" he pointed at the card, "-think it was a bouncy ball or something."

"Aw," Belén said, "He gave me his bouncy ball? He loves that thing."

Barry laughed as he finally pulled out the blue and white bouncy ball from his pocket. As he did, Belén heard a clang hit the floor.

"What's that?" she took the bouncy ball and tried peering over the bed.

Barry saw it was the white USB Wells' attorney gave him earlier in the day. "Ah, it's uh…" he quickly ventured to pick it up.

"Um, doesn't look like it's nothing," Belén observed his rash behavior.

Barry sighed, agreeing with her. "Apparently, in case of his death, Wells had some kind of a living will."

"So what is that thing, then?" Belén eyed the USB even more curiously.

"I haven't watched it," Barry confessed.

"What? Why? Don't you wanna know what he says?"

"I've... been too afraid, honestly…"

Belén could adhere to that. She glanced at the bed stand on her other side and cleared her throat. "We could, uh...maybe watch it...together?"

Barry's eyes widened. "You would?"

Belén smiled softly. "Of course. I am still your friend."

Although the thought that perhaps it was all they would be from now on, Barry was still admittedly happy she wasn't flatout getting him out of her life.

He got up from his chair and went around the bed to retrieve Belén's laptop. She tried picking it up with one hand before he flatout told her absolutely not. After putting the USB in, he settled it between them two and prepared to see what Wells had left for them.

"Hello, Barry. If you're watching this, that means something has gone horribly wrong," Wells began in video. "I'm dead and the last 15 years have been for nothing. Bummer. 15 years. You know, when I realize that in all those years helping raise you, we were never truly enemies, Barry. I'm not the thing you hate."

"He is really _that_ sadistic," Belén couldn't get believe it. Barry could. He stared at the screen with all the hatred he could ever muster.

"And so, I want to give you the thing that you want most. It won't matter," the video-Wells shook his head, apparently it was funny to him, "You'll never be truly happy, Barry Allen, trust me. I know you. Now...erase everything I said up to this point. Give the following message to the police. My name is Harrison Wells. Being of sound mind and body, I freely confess to the murder of Nora Allen. In her home, on the night of March 18th, in the year 2000. I attacked Nora Allen in her dining room…"

"Oh my God," Belén was speechless. She looked at Barry for his reaction but even he couldn't muster words.

" _I stabbed her in the chest with a large butcher knife..._

"He confessed," she reached for Barry's arm, gently nudging him. "He actually _confessed_."

Barry set loose a small laugh as he turned on his chair. "This is it. This is what I need to free my dad!"

"Then go!" Belén shooed him with one hand.

"Caitlin said she would be staying with you-" Barry slowly rose from his chair, of course wanting to speed back to the police station but he didn't want to leave Belén alone either.

"I will be fine! Go!" Belén insisted.

Barry was still unsure as be glanced between her and the open door.

Belén groaned. "Let's make a deal, then. You can go but in return you have to let me write that killer article every journalist in the city is gonna be dying to write about this case."

Barry had to laugh again. "Okay, you got it."

Belén smiled and once again shooed him away. "Go!"

This time he obeyed and hurried out of the room. Belén laughed and settled back on her bed, happy to see that something amazing had finally happened in the city after so much.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm back! I'm so excited for this story to be honest. We get more characters, including some of my absolute favorite characters from this series as well as other series!

Also, I've been meaning to find a name for all of Belén's stories (like I've named my Doctor Who stories) so if anyone has any ideas, please let me know!!

**P. S:** I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's also a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	2. In A World of Flashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash comes across a man named Jay claiming to be from another world. Mistrust rises as new foes continue to terrorize the city. The team discovers, with the help from Jay, that their enemies are coming by the orders of Zoom and are being threatened by a 'datura'.

Cisco and Caitlin gently helped Belén to stand on her feet. Today was the day she was finally able to leave the hospital and needless to say Belén was eager to get out of there. It had been a week since her accident and nothing had been more boring than being forced to lay in bed and do nothing.

"I can do it guys," Belén tried to shoo Caitlin and Cisco but neither moved away from her.

"Nu-uh, we are not letting you out of our sight," Cisco promised. "Not until we figure out why you were targeted."

"Cisco, that's so last week," Belén sarcastically rolled her eyes.

"He's right though," came mama-Caitlin's agreement. "We have a mystery to solve."

"Can we do that at Jitters while I eat?" Belén asked hopeful. She heard the place had finally re-opened - thanks to a 'mysterious force' reconstructing it at night - and was desperate to get back to her normal routine.

"We've actually got somewhere else to go," Cisco announced, his somewhat mischievous smile put Belén on edge.

She stopped struggling against the two to get to the bottom of their mysterious place to be at. "Oh, and where's that?"

"Barry's dad is getting released today," Caitlin smiled impossibly wide, matching Cisco's face exactly. "And we're throwing a little party."

"I-I'm invited?" was the words that came out from Belén's mouth in her rash nervousness. She knew Barry had begun the process of overturning his father's case thanks to the confession Wells left behind on video but neither she nor he knew how long that would take.

"Well of course!" Cisco answered her with a laugh. "So c'mon, everyone's setting up right now."

"But I need to get a proper shower and-and find something to wear…" Belén began to think about what she had in her closet. What could she wear with the new dark blue arm sling her injured arm was forced to rest in.

Caitlin chuckled as they finally got her to stand up from the bed. "Don't worry, I'll help you with whatever you need and then we can head to the party."

"Thank you," Belén could only wonder how much help she would need now that she only had one working, movable arm. Taking care of Axel sure was going to get even more interesting. She knew that one for sure.

~ 0 ~

"Where are half my things at?" Belén was mighty confused - and a bit alarmed - to find that her closet and drawers were half empty. Caitlin had walked in with a glass of water and some pills Belén needed to start taking. "I've been robbed," Belén turned back with wide eyes.

Caitlin couldn't take it and laughed. "Calm down, Belén. Iris and I came over last night and took some things you would need."

"As a welcome-home prank sorta-thing?" Belén raised an eyebrow, finding no relevancy in that plan whatsoever.

Caitlin continued to laugh but shook her head to answer Belén. "No, of course not. Iris and I thought that maybe it would be easier for you to stay with someone that could help you for a while. We put all your stuff in my spare room for you and Axel to stay in."

"Oh," Belén began feeling bad for making such a deal.

"Iris wanted you to stay with her instead but we figured it might be awkward staying in the same house as Barry so…"

Belén grabbed Caitlin's arm dramatically. "Thank you," she could not be more grateful for Caitlin convincing Iris of the alternative plan.

Caitlin chuckled and held the glass of water and pills for her to take. "Yes, now take these."

"Yes, Doctor Snow," Belén saluted with her good arm.

"And then we're gonna find you some clothes that we left for you," Caitlin walked for the closet, humming to herself, "I'm pretty sure Iris mentioned something she left specifically for the occasion."

Belén groaned. "Oh no."

~0~

Barry was glad to see his father happy right in front of him...without glass windows to block them. He was thankful that Iris had gotten the idea of making a little party for Henry and honestly couldn't think of a better way to welcome his father back than with his family and friends.

"Iris, Iris!" Axel tugged on Iris' dress sleeve and didn't stop until Iris paid him attention.

"What is it, Axel?" Iris looked down at the young boy. He seemed very impatient or upset, Iris couldn't tell which one it was but she knew the reason for his behavior.

"When is Auntie Belén coming?" he asked sadly. "I don't want cake until my auntie is here." He had been eyeing the cut cake for about an hour but refused any slices Iris tried giving him. Apparently, he was planning on not having lunch until Belén was finally home.

"She should be here any moment, I promise," Iris said and took the boy's hand. "If you want, I can cut you a slice right now-"

"No!" Axel stomped his foot, frustrated no one understood him. "I want auntie Belén! I miss her." He wrapped his arms around Iris waist and hugged her. "I miss her."

"Poor kid," Cisco remarked beside Barry, both having been watching Iris tend to the child. "Dad's dead, Mom's in jail, aunt in the hospital."

"Yeah, I can kind of understand," Barry admitted. While he'd been much older than Axel when he lost a parent, Barry still could empathize with the young child who had to cling to someone in order to cope with the losses. Joe and Iris had been his rock when he most needed it, and now Axel probably viewed Belén in the same way. Though even before Maritza had gone to jail, Axel was already close to Belén.

"Hey!" they heard Caitlin greet from the front door soon as she opened it. "Sorry we're a bit late."

But apparently it didn't matter. Axel gasped with delight at the sight of Belén and dashed from Iris to go greet his aunt. "Auntie Belén!" he embraced Belén however he could, making her stumble a bit back.

Belén laughed and hugged him with her good arm. "Axel! Tell me you've been a good boy with Iris."

"Mhm!" he said proudly but refused to let go of her just yet. "I helped wash dishes, I made the beds, and I helped cook and-"

"All that by yourself?" Belén managed to pry the four year old off her waist.

Axel gave a big grin as he nodded his face. "Aha!"

Belén didn't even argue with him. She just glanced at Iris who shrugged her shoulders (nearly laughing herself) then hugged Axel again. "Well thank you for being so good while I was gone."

"Why did you go away?" Axel drew away to stare at her arm sling. "I thought you were going away like Mommy."

Belén immediately paled in her face. She hadn't really thought about what Axel may have concluded on his own over her whereabouts for the past days. She'd specifically told Iris to tell him she had a small accident that required her to stay with the doctors. Belén didn't want Axel near hospitals.

Before Belén answered - which she was practically racking her mind for to avoid talking about Maritza - Barry approached them. "The doctors were taking care of her, remember Axel?" the boy in question looked away from Belén to Barry instead. Barry smiled down at Axel and bent down beside him. "She's not going anywhere. Hey," - he whispered - "You want to get some cake for your aunt?"

Axel's eyes widened at the reminder there was cake on the table. "Yes! I can share with you, auntie Belén!" he gave her a quick hug and then darted for the table, hollering for Iris to cut him that slice of cake now.

"Thank you," Belén said to Barry after Axel had left. "I...I should really get myself together when it comes to the subject of Maritza."

"You're doing the best you can," Barry said honestly. Even though they hadn't been together for 6 months, he was well aware of the challenges she had living on her own while basically supporting Axel. She worked her job(s) and took Axel to his preschool every day - though sometimes roughly depended on their neighbor Mrs. Andrews to babysit every now and then - and trained to have a better control over her powers.

Belén didn't seem to agree as she shrugged her shoulders and looked in Axel's direction. "I'm not his Mom - I definitely don't know what I'm doing half the time when it comes to him. There should be like a...guidebook on four year olds."

Barry laughed quietly, making her smile for a moment. "Yeah, I don't think you're the only one who wishes that. You're doing great, Bells."

Belén's smile returned with a light blush on her cheeks. She definitely liked hearing her nickname come out his lips. "Thanks. I'm happy for you, you know. I didn't think you would get your Dad out so quick, though in hindsight given your...speedy nature, I should've seen it coming."

"Joe pushed it, and I guess luck was finally on our side," Barry stuffed his hands in his pant's pockets.

"About time. You deserve it," Belén seemed hesitant about something but in the end, she decided to go for it and hugged him. After all, it was something she thought was well needed.

Although surprised by the action, Barry hugged back, careful not to hurt her in the process, and closed his eyes.

"I am _so_ happy for you right now," Belén said honestly, her words slightly muffled from the party's music and overall low voice.

"Thank you. If you hadn't made me watch the video…" Barry couldn't even imagine what that would've been like.

"Don't even say it," Belén hushed him, relieved herself she made him watch despite his reluctance.

Barry held onto her for who knew how long, just relishing he had that sort of contact with her again. He opened his eyes and happened to cross gazes with his father who was smiling knowingly their way.

Immediately self conscious, Barry pulled back from Belén. "Come on," he took her hand by custom and led her down the small steps to the living room. He took her towards his father, willing to just get over the awkwardness now than later. "Dad, you remember Belén? My…" but the words failed him as he didn't really know what to call Belén if she wasn't his girlfriend. Friend just didn't cut it.

"I'm just Belén," the woman said after watching Barry fumble over his words.

Henry chuckled at his son. He flustered so easily. "Of course I remember you. And I'm so sorry for your losses. Is your sister doing well?"

Belén involuntarily breathed in at the mention of her sister. "She's...fine, in what fits. But I bet you're doing a lot better now that you're here with your son. Now it's your turn to deal with his weird science explanations because I don't understand them one bit." Henry laughed while Barry shook his head. "I'm serious. Last time he tried getting all sciency I nearly smothered him with a pillow."

By this point Barry was completely red in the face. "Bells…"

"You gonna lie and say I'm wrong?" she challenged him.

"Best to say no in these cases, son," Henry said and had Barry groaning.

"Unbelievable!"

Belén laughed and happened to catch Cisco walking by with a plate of cake in hand. She gasped and grabbed Barry's arm on an instinct. "Is that cake? I haven't had cake in _months_. I miss cake. And donuts. Oh, but cupcakes. I miss cupcakes more, though. _Man_ I really miss cupcakes."

Barry swallowed down a laugh, thinking she was incredibly adorable at the moment. "Axel went to go get a slice of cake for him and you, actually."

"I love that kid," she mumbled and looked back at him and Henry. "If you'll excuse me…"

"You go ahead, I think you probably deserve it more than all of us," Henry assured.

"I really want a cupcake," Belén mumbled under her breath as she turned to go leave. She had never been happier to see so much junk food on the table and she planned on getting everything she could.

Although Henry, in the end, decided to leave the city, he did adhere to spending a couple of days in the city for Barry. In the meanwhile, the group began returning to normal. Cisco and Caitlin returned to STAR Labs. Belén had to leave her aerial dancing aside for the moment while she got back on her feet - or arm in this case. She came back to CC Picture News full time.

~ 0 ~

"Hey," Caitlin greeted Cisco in the cortex when she and Belén - and Axel - walked in. Cisco was busy working on the main desk with professor Stein while Iris stood beside the desk looking at something on her phone.

"I wanna play!" Axel rushed up to Cisco and tried peering at the computer screen.

Iris looked up from her phone screen with a rather nervous smile. "I got news on our, uh...assignment," she told Belén, careful of what words she used since she wasn't sure Belén had told anyone else about their article intending on causing doubt over the Azalea's death.

Belén moved over to see what was on Iris' phone and saw a couple pictures that seemed familiar but she wasn't sure where she'd seen them. "Where'd you get these?" she asked after handing Iris her phone back.

" _Well_ ," Iris tilted her head, her smile now becoming innocent, "Remember our early days where I had no idea you were the Azalea and Barry was the Flash?"

"Yes..."

"I snapped pictures of you and him in secret, duh!"

Belén remembered the one famous picture Iris snapped of Barry that'd gone on the front cover of their newspaper. That'd been over a year ago and it was still one of the most known pictures of the Flash. She should've figured Iris snapped pictures of her too when she wasn't looking.

"I sort of told Linda I got these from unknown sources but the backgrounds on them are evidence enough that they're not photo-shopped," Iris stuffed her phone in her back pocket. "But I have to ask again...are you sure you want to do this?"

Cisco loudly cleared his throat at the desk and raised a finger to make it known he'd be entering the conversation now. "I'm sorry, what are you two planning with the Azalea now?"

Belén playfully rolled her eyes at him. "I've been thinking about coming back as the Azalea."

Caitlin was the first to react and it was nothing but concern for her friend. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes," Belén said, truly honest. "I thought about it and I feel terrible that I left the city unattended. Even if Barry was looking after it, I had a responsibility to keep it safe as well."

"But don't you think it'll be hard if you can't control your powers anymore?"

Belén scrunched her face. " _Weeeell_ , it's not like I haven't been practicing at all. I've done training by myself and with Cisco."

At that, Caitlin immediately shot Cisco a look to which the man raised his hands in defense.

"You weren't talking to me!"

Caitlin rolled her eyes and waved him off. "If it's your choice, Belén, then I'll be here if you need my help."

"Thank you," Belén smiled.

Joe and Barry walked into the room a couple minutes later. Barry had gone with his father to the train station to say goodbye. While he was still pretty sad to his father go, seeing all his friends once more in the cortex made everything a lot better.

"Ho ho! Hey, guess what?" Cisco shot up from his chair. "I added a little upgrade to your suit." He made a gesture with both hands towards Barry's suit that showed a brand new golden outline around its white emblem. "It's just like the one from the future newspaper Gideon showed us. I was thinking, you know, you shouldn't fear the future anymore, right?"

Barry laughed as he took a good look at it. It did look pretty nice he had to admit. "No, and it'll be here faster than we think."

"Well, see, I like it," Professor Stein said, moving to stand beside Cisco. "The lightning definitely pops more against the white."

"It is nice," Belén's comment made Barry smile at her.

"I wasn't thinking about your suit, Bells," Cisco admitted after a moment, now feeling rather guilty about it. "But if you'd like, I could get brainstorming!"

Belén sheepishly smiled and shook her head after a minute. "No thanks, I'm good. I want to get back to myself." She noticed Barry's confused stare and promise him she would explain it later.

"You'll also be happy to know that S.T.A.R. Labs is now safer than ever," Cisco promised. "Increased security and surveillance. Re-coded, double firewalled, electronic lock sets."

"Sounds sciencey enough to be true," Iris remarked and shared a laugh with Belén who understood her perfectly.

"Ha, ha," Cisco mocked their laugh and frowned. "People won't be able to just waltz in and out of here."

But it seemed like that would still continue to be untrue. A tall, blonde man donning a black leather jacket and matching pants did just that. Iris gasped and jumped from her chair. Belén quickly nabbed Axel and hurried to get him away from the stranger.

Cisco, despite being alarmed of the intruder, was overall irritated that none of his work did any good. "For real?"

"Stay where you are!" Joe had pulled out his gun to aim at the blonde man. He eyed Iris to get behind him.

Barry discreetly took a closer scoot to Belén should the man come straight for business. "Who are you?"

The man raised his hands, apparently meaning no harm. "You don't know me, but I know you... Barry Allen."

"Take one more step, it'll be the last step you take," warned Joe soon as the man had taken one step forwards. "The man asked you a question. Who the hell are you?"

"My name is Jay Garrick and your world is in danger."

"That's not much to go by," Belén scoffed. "Clearly, you're new to Central City."

"I am, Belén Palayta," Jay said, much to her horror and the other's shock.

Barry yanked Belén to his side, and consequently Axel. "How do you know her name?" he demanded.

"I know everyone's names," Jay said, then gesturing to the others. "Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon, Detective Joe West…"

"Enough," Joe threatened the man with his gun again. "That part about explaining needs to happen right about now."

Jay nodded, deciding it was best to follow orders when there was a gun aimed at him. "This world is in danger."

Iris wasn't sure she heard right. "What other worlds _are_ there?"

"When you created the singularity above Central City, you also created a breach between my world and yours-"

"I'm sorry, a breach?" Cisco cut him off, confused as well.

"Yes, a portal connecting our two earths-"

"And what precisely is your concern?" Stein asked, partially following more than the others, but it didn't mean he was any less confused.

"A few days ago, you found a dead man named Al Rothstein at the nuclear plant. But then a different Al Rothstein tried to kill you."

"Atom Smasher?" Belén looked at the others.

"That man was from my world. If he got through the breach, I suspect there'll be more to follow."

"Okay, so, Jay, how exactly do you know all of this?" Barry asked, although it was easy to see that despite getting an answer he wasn't very inclined to believe it.

"Where I came from, I was a speedster like you. They called me The Flash. Before I arrived on your earth, I was in a fight with a man named Zoom."

The name rang in Barry's mind. "Zoom? I've heard that name before. Atom Smasher, he said Zoom sent him here to kill me. Who is this guy?"

"He's a speedster, like you and me. And fast," Jay paused as if to consider how much. "Maybe the fastest of all. But evil. He is an unstoppable demon with the face of death. We were engaged in our fiercest battle ever, racing throughout my city. But I wasn't fast enough to stop him. Zoom had me beaten. He was about to kill me when suddenly there was a blinding light and the sky split open. A breach, between my world and yours, caused from the singularity. It pulled me in and I somehow ended up in your world. Powerless. Unable to return home."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin stared at him.

Jay sighed. "Before nearly killing me, there was this woman - a siphoner - who took my speed."

"You can do that?" Iris immediately looked at Barry on instinct. Barry, this time, was just as lost as she was.

"She did," Jay answered her instead. "I lost my speed because of her."

"So, you've been in Central City for six months. Why haven't you come to see us before?" Joe lowered his gun for a moment but still kept a tight hold on it.

"I'm in a foreign world here, Detective. I didn't know who you all were. Took me that long to piece it all together."

"So that's how you know our names," Iris frowned. "You've been following us."

Jay sighed but admitted to it. "Look, I know how this sounds. The existence of another earth, you, another Flash, it all came as an unexpected shock to me, too. I just wish there was something I could do to convince you."

Barry looked at the others, seeing no one was willing to make a decision there and then. "There is," he walked for Jay. "We're gonna... do some tests on you. See if you're telling us the truth. 'Cause if you're not, this Zoom, he's not gonna be your only enemy."

~ 0 ~

Out in the city, in an alleyway, in the dark night a blue portal - a breach - opened up. Zoom himself, a dark figure dressed in all black complete with a black mask, threw down another man to the ground.

The man groaned as his back hit the ground harshly. "Where the hell am I?"

One moment he was making a petty theft and the next a brunette woman and a ginger one appeared and nearly killed him.

"You want to go home?" Zoom towered over the man. "You only have to do one thing."

"What's that?"

"Kill the Flash."

The man stared in confusion. He knew the Flash alright - from his world - but what the hell did that mean now?

"Fail and I'll have Datura siphon you," Zoom warned and stepped backwards.

~ 0 ~

Although they were fairly interested in the newest arrival to their world, both Belén and Iris had to leave the lab for work. Belén left Axel in the care of Caitlin and the rest in STAR Labs - who promised to keep him far away from Jay. Well, Barry promised her that, the others just agreed with him.

"These are so good!" Linda couldn't finish gawking over the pictures Iris had now printed out in high definition. "How the hell did you get these? The Azalea hasn't been seen in 6 months."

"She's here...just a sneaky one," Iris said confidently, briefly glancing with Belén. "Very sneaky."

"But that just leaves the question," Linda lowered the pictures, her shoulders slumping with confusion, " _Why_ is she letting the entire city believe she's dead?"

"Maybe she's scared," Belén said, answering a bit too fast without realizing, "A lot of people died 6 months ago and...maybe she's scared about that."

"What? Like she thinks we're going to blame her for it?" Linda nearly snorted if it wasn't a professional setting. "Yeah, right! I'd love to see her back. She and the Flash were such a good team!"

"Maybe if we finish writing this piece she'll see that," Iris' suggestion seemed to make Linda more determinated.

Belén cleared her throat and gravitated towards her desk, making the other two follow her. "I have a draft already if you want to look at it." She stopped just beside her desk when she spotted a small, pink box sitting in front of her computer.

"What's that?" Iris eyed the box curiously while Belén studied it up close.

"No idea," Belén picked up a small white card and read it over silently.

"Seriously?" Linda rolled her eyes at the two. "It's a dessert box, idiots." She took the paper draft from Belén's desk and walked off with the intention of reading it over and giving some feedback.

Iris wasn't sure she liked seeing the dreamy smile spread across Belén's face while the woman read off a small card that'd been on top of the box. It wasn't the first time some secret admirer pulled the stunt at work. Linda had had one a couple months back as well.

"So, who's it from?" Iris couldn't help the sour tone stinging her words. She knew she was wrong to think that someone belonged to someone, but in this case that someone happened to really care for her friend and that someone happened to be like a brother to her. She had a right to feel offended.

Belén could practically see Iris' thoughts and, with a teasing smile, said nothing. With her good arm, she opened the box's lid to find a red-velvet cupcake inside. Its bright, white whip-cream swirled around to a fine tip.

"Who sent you that?" this time Iris had asked more demanding. Unable to help herself, Belén laughed. "I'm not kidding," Iris huffed, putting down her papers on the desk to then place her hands on her hips. "I know I've got no right but it's annoying knowing someone here-" she threw an aggressive look at the room, "-is trying to play Mr. Secret Admirer with you."

"Okay," Belén thought enough was enough and let poor Iris in on her secret. She handed Iris the card meant to be a letter.

Iris took it glumly and read the small message.

_A sweet way to start the day. Maybe later we can finish the day in a sweet way with donuts? - Barry._

Iris didn't know whether to feel mortified at herself for being so jumpy with conclusions, or on Barry's behalf for being such a…

"What a dork," she ended up laughing.

"I will take that, thank you very much," Belén took back the white card and set it down on her desk, her eyes lingering over its message for a moment. "Can't believe he found a moment to do this." She shook her head, but was unable to stop smiling as she took a seat on her chair.

"Soo…" Iris narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "...are you two, like, back together or…?"

Belén raised her head in thought. "I...don't know. But this is very good points."

Iris laughed again. "Dork," she continued to say.

"Hey, he's sweet and I like it," Belén pointed a warning finger at her. "...I missed it," she added after a minute, her smile softening.

Iris laughed but she abruptly stopped when someone walked into the place. Iris noticed her sudden fall and followed Belén's gaze behind. Although Iris was surprised to find the woman there, it didn't match Belén's.

" _Mom_?"

"Hello Belén," Veronica Green walked up to them. "We have to talk."

~ 0 ~

After getting no such conclusive results that would prove Jay, at one point, had been a speedster Barry did what he thought was best.

"I hope you understand why we have to do this," he watched as the pipeline sealed the prison pod Jay was now in.

Jay gave a nod of his dead, looking pretty understanding. "I get it, kid. You're doing what you think you have to. But you'll all realize soon enough that this, the tests, it's unnecessary. I want to help you, Barry, not harm you."

"You're not the first person that's said that to me."

"If what you told me about Zoom is true, that he sent Rothstein here to kill you, instead of locking me up in here, you better start listening. Because if Zoom is involved, then it means so is the siphoner. And you're gonna want to listen to me then."

"Why?" Barry tried acting like it didn't affect him.

"Two things are gonna happen," Jay raised two of his fingers. "One: Zoom's gonna want your speed as well. If you're lucky he won't kill you, but you can say goodbye to your powers. Two? The Siphoner's gonna wanna come here as well. She'll have her target and you're not gonna like who it's going to be."

Barry's eyebrows knitted together, partially mad Jay was making all those claims without an ounce of backup for then and another half of him was just confused. But before he could say anything, Cisco's voice alerted him through the speakers there was a fire somewhere in the city. Leaving Jay, he went out to help the others.

~ 0 ~

Joe had just finished a phone call when he heard a woman calling his name. "Yes, Officer…?" he turned to face a petite blonde woman standing rigidly in front of him.

"Spivot. Patty Spivot," she introduced herself formally. "Captain Singh mentioned there may be positions available on your anti-meta-human task force."

Joe shook his head and went for a couple of papers on his desk. "Yeah, everybody quit. There is no task force anymore."

That didn't deter Patty from making her proposition. "Well, I know someone who's interested in being on it. Me."

Joe stared at her to see if this was just a joke, but the woman remained in her spot smiling. "You do realize that meta-humans have super powers, right? And even if they didn't, you wouldn't be a good fit for the team."

Patty's smile faded for a moment. "Because I'm a woman?"

Joe shook his head, making his way for the reception room with the papers he had picked up from his desk. "I didn't mean to imply that."

Patty turned on her feet and followed him out. Both missed a hasty Belén coming out of the elevator and spotting them.

"Good, because I know how difficult this job would be, but I think I'm an excellent candidate," Patty ventured to get her qualifications out in the open for Joe. "I triple-majored at Hudson in biology, chemistry, and physics. I'm in prime physical condition. And I rated top of my class in marksmanship."

"Your class? You don't even have your stripes yet." Joe set down the papers for the secretary.

"Soon. Been on the job seven months, sir."

"Are you aware of what happened to my previous partner?" Joe started back for his desk and once again Patty followed behind.

"Detective Thawne, yes. I know that he died and the one before him, Fred Chyre, died, too, but the one before that's not dead, just transferred. I'm sure it had nothing to do with you."

Joe stopped by his desk and looked at the blonde woman who seemed very sure of what she wanted. "Listen, Officer…"

"Spivot, Patty Spivot."

"Yes, Spivot, the answer's no."

Patty sighed. "All I'm asking for is a shot, sir. Please, just an interview."

"You just had the interview. Didn't get the job," Joe apologized with a face and walked away.

Patty sighed deeply and turned to leave when she bumped into Belén. "S-sorry!"

"Don't mind it," Belén watched after Joe who'd taken a conversation with another officer. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop or anything but I heard…"

Patty shook her head. "If he thinks I'm giving up so quick, he's got another thing coming."

A small chuckle escaped through Belén's lips. "You should. I have good word that he usually breaks down after a bit of hassling."

"Really?"

"Mhm. He's my boyfriend's and best friend's dad so I know a thing or two."

Patty's eyes widened a bit. "Really? Could you...give me some pointers, maybe?"

It was then that Belén realized she had branded Barry as her _boyfriend_. Her face turned a bright red. _Oh my God if Patty mentions this to Barry…_

"I, um, I'll look into that and get back to you," she said when she realized she left Patty hanging there in silence. "I'm Belén, by the way," she stuck a hand to shake with Patty.

Smiling, Patty shook hands with her. "Patty."

"If you'll excuse me, I came with a mission," Belén made a gesture she needed to get going and Patty nodded her it was fine. Taking a breath Belén hurried away from the woman, praying to every God she knew that Patty wouldn't put two and two when she eventually saw Barry.

"Joe?" she stopped a couple inches from Joe and another officer. "Could we talk for a bit?"

"Sure thing," Joe left his co-worker and gestured Belén to follow her to his desk. "Is there something you needed?" it wasn't usual for her to stop by the place since the singularity, and much less to talk with him.

Belén seemed to struggle with her words for the first minute, but eventually she got it out in one small-worded question. "Did you call my mom when I had my accident?"

Joe's eyebrows raised slightly but didn't intend on hiding what he did. "Yeah, I did. I thought that as a mother Veronica needed to know." Although he was very perplexed and shocked to find that the woman hadn't even made a call for her daughter to see how she was doing.

"Well, that explains why she showed up at my job today," Belén sighed.

"She did?"

"Mhm," Belén nodded. "She went ballistic when she my arm and other injury. She's blabbing about getting me to come back with her to Star City."

"Look, Belén, I didn't mean to cause you any problems with your mother-" Joe meant to explain but Belén cut him off with a soft smile and response.

"I know that, Joe. If roles were reversed and Iris had been hurt, I would have done the same thing."

Joe gave her a thankful nod in return.

"It's just...it's difficult hiding my other life when she's constantly breathing down my neck," Belén couldn't help her frustration seeping through her words. "Last time I warded her off because I had my life put together, but now I have Axel and I'm battling to keep his custody while holding down a job and trying to keep up with payments-" she stopped to take a breather, "I don't know how I'm gonna convince her I can do this."

And she truly didn't. She knew right now was not the best moment of her life but she didn't want to leave the city like a little girl who needs her mother. She didn't. She was old enough to be independent and work for what she needed.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Barry thought it would be a nice time for lunch with Belén. He hadn't had the opportunity to be alone with her anywhere, so perhaps today would be the day to start. After finishing up his usual CSI work at the scene where he fought their newest metahuman, he stopped by CC Picture News to see if she was willing to have lunch with him.

"I would definitely like that," Belén chuckled as a means of expressing her nervousness. It was as if they were beginning all over again and that included the feelings of a high schooler with a crush.

Belén moved around her desk trying to gather her things with one arm. Barry quickly offered to help her with that and as he was moving to put her phone in her purse it began to ring. He was unable to remain at ease when he saw 'Mark' flashing on the caller ID.

"I'll just take that," Belén saw nothing and grabbed her phone, answering then. "Hello?"

In the meantime, Barry pretended to just casually stand there like it didn't bother him this guy was probably still trailing after Belén.

"Yeah, no thank you so much. I will definitely be there tonight. Okay, thanks," Belén hung up with an incredible amount of excitement.

"So...what did Mark happen to say….?" Barry took her phone and let it drop in her bag.

"Things…" Belén said slowly, her eyes studying his expressions and gestures. It reminded her of the way Cisco and even Joe had looked at Mark the day at the rally.

"Mm, things that had you so happy…" Barry commented, utterly failing at hiding his jealousy.

Belén reached for his arm and motioned with her head for them to get going. Sighing, he took her purse and led her for the door. It was honestly refreshing seeing him this distressed over something as simple as a phone call from another man. Belén wasn't there to be fought over like a trophy, but after six months of having _nothing_ from Barry, she could stand to see a bit of jealousy on his part.

Of course, midway down the same street she felt guilty. Barry was having a struggle to keep his mouth shut about Mark and Belén could tell it was killing him.

"Can I show you something?" she stopped suddenly to face him.

"Yeah, sure," Barry expected her to want to take something out of her bag but she shook her head and leaned to his ear to whisper something.

_An address._

Barry blinked in confusion, but Belén assured it was for a good reason. He carefully took hold of her, not wanting to hurt her injuries, and sped them for an apartment building. There, they came to the third floor.

"Bells, I don't understand what we're doing," Barry was following the woman down a solemn hallway lined with various apartment doors.

"I'm easing those thoughts of yours about Mark," Belén glanced to see the metahuman fumbling over something he thought he'd been hiding relatively well. She stopped in front of the last apartment door and bent down to reach underneath the mat. Barry watched her pull a small golden key.

"Where are we?" he asked once she unlocked the door.

"Mark's apartment," Belén giggled and hurried in before he could refuse coming in with her.

The jealousy was undeniable then. "Belén, I know I was a jerk but I don't think this is fair-"

Belén hummed to herself as she looked around the almost empty apartment. Its living room was spacious without the old furniture that used to be there. There was a couple of boxes stacked up against a wall. She walked over to them and started sifting through them.

Meanwhile, Barry was scowling at everything there. The kitchen still had its table and a couple of more boxes. He could see the hallway was empty of any portraits or furniture.

"Barry, do you think Mark and I are dating?" Belén's sudden, straightforward, question pulled Barry to the moment. Widened eyes laid on her still going through a box. "Well?"

"Um…" Barry rubbed the side of his neck, "...what's the answer that doesn't make me look like a selfish jerk?" Belén laughed to herself. "I mean, I don't purposely try finding jealousy. I know you and I are not together and that you have every right to find someone who won't hurt you. It's just...it doesn't mean I stopped caring." Belén looked back silently, her playfulness gone as she listened to his words. "It hurts, yeah, that you could find someone else. It shouldn't but it does. And...and if you and this guy _are_ trying something...then tell me, and I'll stop all of these attempts of mine. I promise."

Belén could tell, despite being a decent distance from him, that he was being completely honest. With a swelling heart, she pulled out a small, wooden portrait and walked back to him. "Here," she held the portrait for him to take.

"What?" Barry took the portrait and looked down to find a picture of Mark and a ginger woman side-by-side smiling.

"That's Mark-" Belén tapped a finger over Mark's figure, "-and this-" she moved her finger to the ginger woman, "-is Selena. His _fiancee_."

"F-fiancee?" Barry repeated. Belén nodded her head, giggling when she saw the relief wash over his face. "Oh thank God!"

"They're getting married - actually, I'm a bridesmaid - and Mark is moving in with her so...he let me take his apartment," Belén gestured to the place.

Suddenly, the apartment was amazing. Barry couldn't help himself and encased her in a hug. "I'm probably a selfish man but I'm really happy you're not dating anyone nor thinking about dating," he murmured beside her ear.

"Well, maybe just one person…" Belén responded quietly and pulled away to show a shy smile across her lips.

Barry blinked, initially taken aback, but it didn't take long for him to start smiling back. _Definitely on the right track_ , he thought.

~0~

Cisco was setting to work on the sample of sand - which apparently was not sand according to Jay - that Barry brought to them earlier in the day. He was waiting for professor Stein to return to the working room to try and find out more of the breeches. He set the small sample of sand underneath a scientific microscope and barely got a look at it when he felt that same, odd sensation that often pulled him from the present.

He found himself in a blue, glowing building. He spotted Sand Demon being thrown to the hard ground, a crackling light threatening over him.

" _What do you want!?" Sand Demon shouted frantically as the threatening light grew closer to his face._

_A woman's laughter sounded behind him. However, a second woman's voice ordered the first to quit it._

_Her soothing, almost sultry-sounding voice, then told the first woman it wasn't the way._

_A brunette donning leather, her back to Cisco, stood in front of the second woman - a tall, ginger in a green one suit. "He says there's another one…"_

_The ginger wagged a finger at the brunette. "Then you shouldn't harm this one-" she gestured to Sand Demon who was still under the brunette's threat, "-unless you want to lose your only way."_

_The brunette sighed and retracted the threatening light from Sand Demon. The ginger moved past the brunette and stopped beside Sand Demon. "Zoom wants you to work for him. Either you agree or you lose your powers and probably die. Quite simple really." The sadistic smile on her face provoked a terrible tingle of fear in Cisco._

"Woah," Cisco sucked in a heavy breath once he managed to get out of that vision. "What's happening to me…?" he slowly fell back into his chair, exhaling and trying desperately to get that vision out of his head.

~0~

Before Barry could take Belén to lunch, he received a call from Joe that he had found their metahuman - whose name was Eddie Slick. Sadly, Barry had to cancel and leave Belén on the street. She didn't mind, she understood after all. SHe went back to work and did her best to finish her article as much as she could before it was time to go. Linda and Iris were really excited once they saw their work finally melding together in the article, and left Belén a little happy to see her return getting closer.

However, her happiness didn't last long when she returned to Caitlin's apartment.

"Oh for the love of…" Belén mumbled under her breath at the sight of her mother standing in Caitlin's living room.

"Annah-Belén," Veronica finally breathed from relief at the sight of her daughter.

"What are you doing here?" Belén demanded. " _How_ do you even know we're staying here?"

"Wasn't easy but I am a cop," Veronica said, shrugging. "Your lovely friend - Caitlin, I believe - was kind enough to let me wait for you in her home. I've been trying to call…"

"One would think rejecting all your calls would give you a clue that I didn't exactly want to talk to you," Belén set her uninjured hand on her hip.

Veronica expected this sort of behavior from her daughter but couldn't say it didn't hurt her. Her talk with Belén earlier in the day at her job was a complete disaster. Belén was mad that she hadn't even tried getting in contact with her after she was shot. But what really drove things home was the fact Veronica had tried coaxing Belén to return with her to Star City with her.

"We need to talk," Veronica ventured to try again but Belén wasn't having it.

"You said everything earlier and I already told you _no_ ," Belén enunciated the last word slowly. "I'm not coming with you and there is nothing you can say that'll change my mind."

Veronica, exasperated, let her own purse fall to the nearest couch. "Would you stop being so childish? You would see that I'm only trying to help you!"

"Me!?" Belén scoffed. "How are you helping me? By trying to pull me away from my friends? From my job? From _my_ city?"

Veronica was about to shout back but she bit her tongue and came up with an alternative. "I passed by the house...and I saw you were selling it."

Belén still became defensive over it. "The deed was under Dad's name, and with Rayan dead and Maritza in jail the house is legally mine. I can do what I want with it."

"But that's the point, Belén," Veronica sighed. "You are selling your home because you can't keep up with all the payments and now with Axel you have a lot more to deal with. Come back with me, please. It's the best thing for Axel."

"I am not going with you!"

Veronica gave her a stern, yet somewhat apologetic look, for what she was about to say next. She truly thought she would be able to get through with her daughter but apparently she had been wrong. "If you don't come back then I will be forced to file for Axel's custody."

Belén's eyes widened till they just couldn't anymore. "You wouldn't…" her voice trembled.

Veronica remained on her stance. It felt terrible seeing her daughter so shaken by a possibility of losing the child, but Veronica truly saw no other way. "Axel is a child, Belén, and he needs a stable home. Where is he right now, hmm?" she gestured to the clearly empty apartment.

Belén's eyes became teary but she answered anyways. "With my friend, Cisco."

"Mm, can't keep him with you, can you?"

"I have a job!" Belén defended herself in a mild-shout. "That thing I do to pay for his needs. Many single mothers have babysitters."

"I think I have said what I needed to," Veronica reached for her purse on the couch. "I will be here till the end of the week, but if you don't come back with me then I will be forced to fight for my grandson's custody."

"Maritza wouldn't let you!" Belén cried frantically. "She specifically left instructions for _me_ to have Axel's custody."

"Well, when the judge takes a look at our backgrounds they'll see I have plenty experience unlike you." Veronica sighed as Belén's tears began to fall down her cheeks. "I don't want to fight you, Belén. I don't. But you are leaving me no choice here." With those words, she walked out of the apartment.

Belén angrily threw her purse across the room just as Veronica shut the door. Almost instantly, Belén felt the cold, plant-side of her start creeping out. But unlike the previous year, she didn't fight it, she let it come to her. There was a brief change of her skin - the emerald, scaly side appeared for but a minute before Belén felt calm enough to send it away.

"It's not over," she turned away.

~0~

Belén listened for the loud ringing bell that indicated she was allowed to move into the visitor's ward. Every time she came to Iron Heights' metahuman division, she couldn't imagine living in such a dull, cold place. But, it was where her older sister, Maritza, had been living for the past 6 months...serving a life sentence. Her metahuman side proved to be a challenge for her sentencing, and since the justice system hadn't caught up with the fact some of their population now had powers...it was easier to sentence almost any metahuman for a long, long time.

Maritza knew well what she'd done and she accepted her sentencing with true penance...not that Belén quite believed it yet.

"You came for a visit," Maritza beamed when her sister picked up the visitor's phone on the other side of the glass.

"It's not like I had much of a choice," Belén muttered. Her eyes seemed to struggle to remain on her sister, something Maritza noticed the first time Belén visited her.

"I heard what happened to your arm..." Maritza lowered her voice. "Did you catch the guy who did it?"

"Barry did," Belén cleared her throat. "Metahuman. What can you expect from low-lives."

Maritza took the sting with a slow nod of her head. She was being patient, very patient with Belén, but it hurt each time Belén made a snide comment like that. "I'm very glad Barry helped you, then. You and him...you're talking again?"

"That doesn't matter," Belén shifted on her seat. "I'm here for other business. Mom's in town." Maritza blinked in shock. "And she's not here on good terms."

"I...I don't understand," Martiza leaned forwards in her chair. "I haven't seen Mom since my sentencing hearing and...it's not like she had a lot of words to say to me."

"Well, she said a lot to _me_ ," Belén shook her head. "She wants me to come back to Star City. If I don't, she'll fight for Axel's custody."

Maritza's eyes widened in alarm. "What!? My instructions were specifically for you. I transferred my custody over - everything was legal, Belén! I swear it!" And judging by Maritza's distress, she was telling the truth.

"Has she come talk to yet? About anything?"

"No! I swear she hasn't!" Maritza sighed and brought a hand to her forehead. "Mom hates me." Belén remained silent for a moment. Maritza wasn't always one to show emotion, but her quiet whisper was signal enough of how honest she'd been when she said that. "I did terrible stuff, shamed her name in the police department. She doesn't come to visit me, ever." Maritza lowered her hand to the metal table and looked at Belén with a small smile. "You're her golden child now, her _only_ child now."

"Mom and I don't get along, and if she does this - if she takes Axel from me - I will _hate_ her forever."

And Maritza knew Belén meant every word of it.

~ 0 ~

The next morning that Belén made it to STAR Labs, she found all of her friends arguing with one another. It was enough to give anyone a headache.

Barry was the one in the middle of scolding the others. "We don't even know anything about Zoom! _What_ is Zoom? Is Zoom even real? Right now, that's just, you know, a story around a campfire. I mean, have you discovered a breach yet?"

Professor Stein coughed awkwardly when the question was thrown at him. "Not yet, but we know how to now."

Barry made a gesture he was being proven right then looked at Caitlin. "Have you found one thing to suggest that Jay is a speedster? Is there a trace that the Speed Force was ever even in his system?"

"It doesn't appear to be, no," Caitlin shook his head. "But then again, if a siphoner was involved…"

"What's going on?" Belén spoke over them.

"We're being lectured, that's what," Iris sighed and glanced at the woman.

Barry groaned. He was frustrated that no one was listening and getting that this was important. They were all so quick to trust Jay - a man who had dropped in on them with a story they couldn't even yet prove. "We are scientists," he continued, voice louder and sharper than before. "You're journalists," he gestured to both Belén and Iris, the former blinking as she was yet to understand what the problem was. "We test, we prove, we report. That's what we do. Except right now, nobody here wants to do any of that except me."

"Okay," Belén spoke over him before he said something more, "I'm cutting it right here. We gotta talk," she pointed between herself and Barry with a warning look that he had to better agree with her. "Can we have the room for a mo?"

There was no disagreements among the group. Caitlin took Axel by the hand and walked out along with the others. Belén waited with arms crossed until they were all gone.

"Look, Barry, I know it too early to say this, but I'm not having a good day so can we just cut to the chase here. Why don't you want to trust Jay?"

Barry tried to look anywhere but her demanding eyes. "I don't know."

"Really? That's the answer we're going with?" Belén was mighty disappointed he was trying to play dumb with her. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that, then. I dare you." But of course, Barry was unable to. With a sigh, Belén walked up to him. "Is it...because of Dr. Wells? Well, Thawne, whatever his actual name was."

Striking the nerve, Barry didn't even hide his anger. "I trusted that man. For months."

"Hey, we _all_ did," Belén reminded.

"But you know what?" Barry finally was able to look her in the eyes. "Eddie is dead. Ronnie is dead. And a whole lot of other people in this city, they are dead because we trusted him. I'm not gonna let us make that mistake again."

"You know, I would have thought that you being a scientist would understand that not everyone is the same. Jay is not Wells. And besides that, you defeated Wells because you trusted in people. Because you believed in them. The team that you have here, they will follow your lead. They'll do what you say. But if they think that you don't believe in them, it won't be long before they don't believe in you. Is that what you want?"

"Course not," Barry mumbled under his breath.

"Then…" Belén stepped closer to him, hands like a feather over his arms, "...why don't we give him a chance, hm? Think he deserves that."

Barry thought it over but struggled a bit as he felt her touch. He playfully rolled his eyes then, succumbing to her idea. "Yeah, I guess I could let him out for a bit…"

With a laugh, Belén stepped back. "There we go. See? It _is_ possible to play nice with other speedsters."

This time, Barry laughed. Their conversation was cut short when they heard Barry's phone going off. He saw it was Joe and answered, hoping they had news (again) on their actual villain. Unfortunately, it also involved the kidnapping a fellow new co-worker.

"We're looking for any structures that promote humidity. Greenhouses, grow rooms, anything of the sort," Jay explained to the group who was ready to start searching for places where Slick could have taken Patty to. "His body will literally start to fall apart if he becomes dehydrated."

"Like dry sand," Caitlin nodded her head.

"Exactly. Sand Demon always attacks on two fronts. He creates a diversion, then strikes when you're distracted."

"Okay, then what do we do?" asked Barry.

"We use your speed to get to him before the distraction can happen."

Barry did his best to not sound condescending as he asked, "Jay, how do I stop somebody who can slip through my fingers?"

But Jay already had the answer. "The way I was never able to. With lightning.c

Cisco clapped his hands together. "Yo, are you about to pull a Zeus right now?"

Belén snickered. "Oh my God, Cisco. But wait," her face scrunched in confusion, "Can you do that?" She looked between Jay and Barry. "Can you actually create thunder from _speed_?"

"Asks the woman who can poison anyone by touch," coughed Cisco.

"You can poison?" Jay asked curiously, making Belén chuckle.

"Yeah, suit's mine," she pointed at her old Azalea suit behind him. Jay glanced back and examined the suit for a moment.

"All right," Barry agreed to the plan, a but unsure ld how well it would go but at the moment it was all they had.

~ 0 ~

While everyone set to work on finding their missing meta and officer, Jay and Barry moved to the training room/garage to try out that lightning trick. Because neither Caitlin nor Stein had found the place they needed, Cisco opted for a different way but left abruptly to go try it out apparently. Unable to help herself, Belén followed a short moment afterwards.

When she found him in the working room, she was a bit concerned to find him holding his head with eyes shut. As Belén walked in further, he jolted like he had snapped out of something.

"Oh, no," he muttered with a heavy breath like he had just run a marathon or something.

"...Cisco?" her voice startled him into turning around. "What just happened here?

Thinking it would distract her, Cisco answered a different question. "I figured out where Patty is."

"Okay...but how did you figure that?"

Cisco nervously laughed. "Just a hunch. We gotta tell Barry." He made a move for the hallway when three tendrils of vines wrapped around the room's threshold to block his way. Slowly, he turned around. "Using powers against me now? That's a serious disadvantage."

"I'm sure," Belén smiled. "So are we going to discuss this or will I have to keep you hostage?"

"I know where Patty is, Bells. We can't waste time," Cisco adamantly said.

"Cisco I know you're hiding something-"

"Look, I promise we can talk afterwards but right now we have to save Patty. Right?"

Belén narrowed her eyes playfully. "Playing the good-guy card on me. _That's_ the disadvantage." She pulled the vines back from the threshold and followed Cisco out the room.

After telling both Barry and Jay of where it was most probable that Sand Demon and Patty would be, Jay was designated as the visual distraction needed in order to save Patty. It was then that he revealed the silver helmet that had fallen through the breech on the day of the singularity was his.

"Never thought I'd see that again," Jay laughed when Caitlin emerged from a cortex side room holding said helmet. "It was my father's, from the War of the Americas."

Cisco blinked. "Did you just say War of the Americas?"

"I wish you would have just told us you lost your helmet. Would have saved us all a headache," Barry remarked as Jay put on the helmet. It really would have avoided so much distrust.

"Well, sure you want to do this, Flash?" Jay turned to him.

"Yeah. Let's go see what you're made of... Flash." Barry clapped hands with him.

As it turned out, Cisco had been right of where to find Sand Demon and Patty...to which Belén gave a sharp look at Cisco. Cisco, trying to avoid questions, got on the comm.

"I'm in the security feed. Go, Barry!"

Barry had sped into the building, making sure Sand Demon would hear his arrival but remained hidden and allowed Jay to come in as if he had made the noise instead.

"Is that you, Flash? Found your way here," Sand Demon turned from the bound Patty on a chair to face Jay.

"I came quite a distance," Jay remained where he was. He needed to draw Sand Demon away from Patty to allow Barry the time to get her out.

"I thought you were dead," Sand Demon admitted.

"You were wrong. Like usual. Let the girl go."

"Have at it," Sand Demon gestured to Patty. "But you touch her, she goes boom-" he made the exploding gesture with his arms, "-and I think even you aren't fast enough to save her."

He walked up to Jay, waiting for a moment but allowing Jay to throw the first punch. Sand Demon ducked and stepped back.

"Quite a bit slower on this Earth, aren't you, Flash?"

That moment allowed Jay for a clear shot across the face.

Angry he'd been caught off guard, Sand Demon returned the favor and started punching Jay back. "You don't have your speed, do you?" he realized with great delight and wonder. "Did she siphon them?" he had to know. While it was such a pleasure to see his enemy without powers, it meant that Zoom did have the power - or the woman - to steal powers from anyone.

But once again he had become distracted. Barry was able to come in and pull Patty from the chair she was tied to. As the bomb went off, he, Patty and Jay were blasted back while Sand Demon absorbed the energy.

"Must be my lucky day," Sand Demon laughed as both speedsters got up. Patty was identified as unconscious but alive. "Zoom sent me here to kill you. Now I get to kill The Flash from two worlds before I go home." He stuck a hand backwards, using a mighty sand blast to choke Jay from behind.

Barry took a big breath and started running around Sand Demon and Jay, just like Jay instructed.

"Come on!" Sand Demon shouted for him to stop and actually fight. He let go of Jay and waited for the other speedster to stop.

At light speed, Barry stopped in front of him and hurled a shard of lightning forwards. It caught Sand Demon right on the chest and threw him backwards. By the time he hit the ground he had turned into brown glass that shattered at the contact of the hard ground.

~ 0 ~

Later that same day, Belén returned to find Cisco working in his experiment room. She had held her tongue back for a reasonable amount of time but now she felt it was time to get those answers.

"Cisco?" she startled him as she strode into the room. "Professor Stein wanted to know if you've made progress on whatever the hell electrophotography is supposed to mean?"

Cisco smiled. "The satellite picture of the city's still rendering so we have a couple more minutes left."

"Oh, perfect," Belén made herself comfortable on the edge of his desk. "While we wait, maybe now you can tell me what's going on with you."

"U-uh...what?" Cisco glanced at her, eyes blinking rapidly.

Belén just smiled. "Your 'hunches'-" she made air quotation marks, "-don't really sound like hunches. I know you're smart very smart, but this is something else. I mean, you knew where Sand Demon was - like exactly where he was and what he was gonna use? Cisco-" she tilted her head, serious then, "-for real?"

Cisco knew there was no point in denying it then. "Something's happening to me."

"That much I got."

"I'm starting to perceive things. Horrible things…" Cisco paused and moved away from the desk. "It started after Wells killed me in the other timeline. It came back when Atom Smasher attacked on Flash Day, and then again when Sand Demon showed up. I get a vibe, and then a vision of something that's already happened, and then it's gone. That's how I knew where Slick was."

Belén was beginning to smile. "Cisco, you're a metahuman!" she jumped off the desk excitedly. "You have powers! And...and good ones by the looks of it! We have to explore them-"

Cisco was quick to refuse such an idea. "No, no, no, we're not doing any of that, and we're certainly not telling anybody, either." Belén's smile began fading. "I'm seeing things I don't want to see. And knowing things I don't want to know. I just want it to stop."

"Cisco...I think I am the most qualified to remind you what happens when you desperately try to push your powers away."

Cisco curly nodded. He acknowledged there could be consequences to his decision but he just didn't want to know of these powers.

"I tried to ignore a whole side of my powers and look where I am now? I have to be very careful now. Don't ignore them - embrace them." Belén hoped he would adhere to her warning because she wouldn't like to see him in the same predicament she was.

"Wells told me this was my future. That he gave me this power. But everything he did was evil. That's what scares me, Bells. You have to promise me you won't tell anyone about this."

Belén agreed. "I promise I won't. But you have to promise me you'll think about what I said."

"I promise," Cisco agreed to the terms.

Belén smiled and hugged him with her good arm. "But you know what?"

"Mm?"

"If you do embrace them, that means you get to name yourself."

Cisco laughed. That was something he hadn't yet thought of.

~0~

After Caitlin finished attending to Jay's newest injury, she left the side room to allow Barry to talk with Jay. She figured they needed to get some words out. It was the only way they would be able to start fresh on good terms.

"So, I hear they call you the Scarlet Speedster," Jay couldn't help the laugh he set loose.

"Yeah," Barry laughed too. He wouldn't even mention the first one Belén had dubbed him with during their early days. "What about you?"

"The Crimson Comet." Jay laughed again. "What is it with alliteration and nicknames?"

"Hey, look, Jay, um...thank you for all your help. And for being so patient with me," Barry knew he was a piece of work that Jay shouldn't have had to work for so long.

"Nah, anytime, kid. You're a quick study," Jay waved it off. "Took me a lot longer to learn how to toss lightning, believe me."

"Then I suppose I had the right teacher."

"It's going to be a lot harder to take down Zoom."

"Who is this guy?" Barry hoped to get some real answers on Zoom because so far no one else had them.

Jay sighed, shrugging his shoulders. "No one knows. He showed up around the same time as when I got my powers. He gathered himself a selective metahuman band to constantly terrorize my city. I managed to put most of them away except for a few…"

"A few?"

"Well, I couldn't exactly touch a meta who poisons, another who siphons, or freezes...they're all dangerous, Barry. These just happen to be more dangerous."

"Hmm," Belén cleared her throat as she made her entrance to the place, "Sorry, did you just say a meta who poisons?"

Jay smiled, understanding her curiosity. "Poison Ivy - you don't want to meet her."

"With that name, no thanks," Belén raised her good hand to pass. She moved beside Barry, sitting down on the side of the bed. "Are we talking about Zoom? Because I would love to know more about this guy who has it in for Barry and a hobby of shooting women?"

"Yeah, I'd like to know that too," Barry agreed. Without noticing, he had stepped closer to Belén and put an arm around her. "Because I don't get it."

He truly had thought and thought why Belén had been targeted in the first place. He understood that Zoom was after him - however twisted it was he got it. He was a speedster and so was Zoom but the latter was more competitive. That made sense. Him ordering an attack on Belén did _not_ make sense.

"Maybe it was because Zoom knew you were someone important to Barry," Jay tried reasoning himself.

"We didn't even talk with each other for six months," Belén reminded. "We broke up like a day after the singularity. There's no way Zoom could have put that together when we didn't have any contact."

"When I fought the Atom Smasher he mentioned it was a test," Barry recalled and soon felt the anger he felt then resurface.

"That sounds like a test I do not want to pass," Belén frowned.

"He said that it was a test, like a standalone thing. A test for...datura? I don't know what that is, though."

"Datura?" It was easy to see the name was very familiar to Jay.

"Yeah, what is that?" Barry asked him.

"It's not a thing, she's a _woman._ Datura," Jay explained with a small sigh. "She's the siphoner who stole my speed and if she targeted you specifically...my guess is she's going to want to leave you just like me: powerless."

"Oh…" Belén said quietly, unable to hide her growing fear. "Well...I guess I'm gonna have to...learn how to fight a...siphoner?" It was impossible to stay unconcerned when she wasn't at her prime state.

Barry saw her being absorbed in her thoughts. "Jay, can we have a moment please?"

Jay nodded and walked out of the room to give them privacy.

"Belén-" Barry moved to stand in front of her but the woman turned away from him.

"How do I fight a siphoner? _Can_ I fight a siphoner?" she turned back to him with widened eyes. "Have we done that yet?"

"No, but...we'll find a way," Barry stepped closer to her. He reached for her uninjured hand and laced his fingers with hers. "We always do, right?"

"...yeah, we do," she sighed. But even as she tried to stay calm, her mind began to race towards the mysterious siphoner who had it in for her. Who was she? Why did Datura want _her_ of all people?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	3. Lonesome Rogues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Snarts have made their way back to STAR Labs only this time they're in need of help.

Maritza Palayta knew by now not to expect many visits for her, from anyone. She counted herself lucky if Belén decided to stop by once a month. Having her mother sitting in front of her now was something beyond shocking.

"Mom?" the word tumbled from Maritza's mouth before she could even finished thinking.

Veronica stood on the other side of the glass, her facial features not as readable as they once were. She didn't know what to make of her eldest daughter now. She'd been there for Maritza's sentencing, head held high but nothing but disapproving of Maritza. Never in Veronica's mind did she ever consider her daughter becoming a metahuman and much less a criminal.

"I didn't expect you to visit me..." Maritza said after a minute of awkward silence. "At all."

"Should I?" Veronica's tone was cold, but Maritza knew she deserved it. In her mother's perspective, she ruined their reputation in the police department both in Central City and in Starling City.

"I don't know," Maritza answered honestly. "I don't let Axel visit, and I'm lucky if Belén decides to give me the time of day, so...to what do I owe this visit?"

Veronica closed her eyes, sighing. "If you haven't seen Belén already, I think you know what my situation is right now..."

"Ah," Maritza slightly raised her head. "Are you still bothering Belén about my son's custody? You know I left instructions, written out legally, of who I wanted to look after my son, right?"

"Maritza, we both know that Belén is neither ready nor has the means to sustain herself and a child," Veronica remained adamant in that aspect. She viewed this as logically as she could and it was the simple truth. On her own, Belén was able to pay for herself and do her own things, but having a child was something completely life-changing. "You and I, we had our children at a decent age. At a time where we were physically, emotionally and economically ready to care for a child."

"Well, one of us was," Maritza corrected coldly. "Because I may have gone down the wrong path, killed people, but I was always there for my son no matter what. Can you say the same? Where the hell were you?"

"I accept my faults," Veronica lowered her gaze, surprising Maritza for a second there. She'd never won a small disagreement like that, ever. "And after seeing how each of my children have ended up...I realize I should've been there more. It's why I want to try and get close to Belén."

"Your words are nice but your actions say something else," Maritza sighed. "You want Belén, fine, but on _your_ terms and that's not going to work, Mom. And that's the problem. Mom, I love you, I really do. In your own way I know you love us back but you are making the biggest mistake of your life. You lost Dad, Rayan, me...do you really want to lose Belén too?" Maritza so desired for her mother to see the errors she was making. She would want nothing more than the last remaining family of hers to be together.

Veronica swallowed hard and looked down. "I am trying-"

"No, you're _fighting_ ," Maritza corrected her softly. "Mom-" she laughed softly, "-stop fighting and _help_ Belén instead. You think it doesn't kill me to know she's struggling because she has to raise _my_ son? I wish nothing more than to change what I did, but I can't. But _you_...you still have a chance to mend your errors. You want to have a relationship with Belén? Prove to her that you are committed to seeing her perspective for once."

Maritza hoped her mother would heed her words because she was sure if Veronica kept going forth with her plan, Belén would never forgive her.

~ 0 ~

"So my mother has filed for custody of Axel," Belén sighed as she explained to Barry. The two were sitting on the steps of her front porch. Little by little, they had scooted closer to each other. "Like, she _actually_ filed for it. I thought she was angry and bluffing but she wasn't. And you know she did it because I said 'no' to going back with her to Star City."

Barry was honestly shocked to hear what Veronica did. He never had the pleasure of meeting her and actually talking with her in a full conversation, but this was enough to put her on his bad list. "I'm so sorry Belén..."

Belén sighed and glanced at him with a sad smile. "I'm sorry too. I didn't mean to spread my depressive news to you."

Barry smiled back for a moment before assuring her everything was fine. He'd come by with the intention of asking her to lunch since they still hadn't had the chance of going on a date since their break up. But as soon as he'd taken a look at her face - which was after asking her to lunch - he saw something was wrong. And boy was he right.

He took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss. "We'll figure something out, Bells."

"C'mon. I'm 26 I don't know the first clue about being a pseudo-mother to a four year old. I'm selling my childhood house to keep up with bills. Maybe, on some level, my mom's right to file for custody..."

"You're doing everything you can, and you know what? If your mother is truly concerned then maybe she could help instead of doing...this!" Barry couldn't help the anger lacing his words the more he thought about Veronica's actions. "If she wants to fight, then let's make sure our fight is a damn good one."

Belén was smiling softly, and he had no idea why. The way he'd automatically joined her side with 'our fight' made her feel...warm. She missed that. A lot. "I'm glad you're around again."

The smile that came to Barry's face was automatic. His hand gripped hers and there was a moment where he thought he couldn't ever let go of her hand. "So am I."

"And...I'm sorry about the whole...date thing...I'm-"

"-I get it Bells," Barry reassured her again. "We can go another time."

"Are you sure?" Belén asked, still mighty guilty. It'd been some time since they technically were trying to be together again and it was rather hard to do when there were no dates involved.

"Yes! C'mon," Barry stood up and, with his hand still holding hers, made her get up as well. "Let's go to STAR Labs. Cisco might be done with the breach search, remember? Portals into another world might be something fun to see, you know..."

Belén dramatically sighed. "For nerds, I guess." Barry deadpanned her until she laughed. "Alright, let's go see this breach thing. I need to pick up Axel anyways."

~0~

Indeed Cisco had finished with the breach search and found quite more than he would've thought. Down in the basement of STAR Labs gathered the group save for Stein, Iris and Joe to look at the biggest breach of them all...which turned out to be out of 53 in the entire city. It resembled a blue, moving blob suspended in air over a small platform.

"Pretty amazing, isn't it?" Cisco couldn't stop looking at the breach.

"It looks like a blob," Belén crinkled her nose. Cisco immediately shot her a look of offence for diminishing the breach's worth.

"Still can't believe what I'm looking at," Jay admitted.

"52 breaches in Central City, and the biggest one just happens to be in our basement," Caitlin remarked, totally unsurprised by the turn of events.

"We need a name for it," Cisco popped a finger in the air.

"It's not a pet, dude," Barry's words meant nothing for Cisco who was already on a brainstorming path.

"No," professor Stein walked in carrying a squared monitor hanging on a strap, "It's a wormhole."

Caitlin immediately turned for the man. "Professor Stein, what are you doing? Your blood pressure is 147 over 82! You could pass out again."

Stein didn't look the least bit worried over his condition despite the fact he had collapsed a few days ago while giving the group a lecture. "Oh, it's merely a few points above the 140 average for someone my age. Besides, I have some ideas I would like to contribute to this discussion, Dr. Snow."

"And I want to hear them. This isn't just a wormhole. It's my way home," Jay reminded them all. "Back to Earth Two."

"Jay, you really think that we can use this as some kind of bridge from your world to ours?" asked Barry.

"Zoom uses the breaches. Why can't we?"

"We don't know _how_. Everything I put through just bounces back," Cisco sighed.

Axel, who had been left sitting at a nearby desk looked up from his drawings he was working on. "Can we throw more things!?" he excitedly asked.

Not even waiting for the answer, he grabbed his crayon box and hopped off his chair to run for the breach. He and Cisco had taken turns throwing things into the breach earlier to see if they would come back and he was mighty disappointed when Caitlin came in to tell them not to do it anymore. He liked seeing everything they threw be bounced back at them.

"Cisco!" Belén exclaimed as the boy made a beeline for the breach, his arm already raised to throw the crayon box.

"Got him!" Cisco snagged Axel of his feet as he passed by him.

"Aw," Axel frowned. Everyone laughed at the young boy.

"I can't believe you," Belén shook her head at Cisco for yet again teaching something wrong to her nephew.

"If Zoom's using these breaches to transport people from Earth Two, maybe it takes a speedster," Barry suddenly theorized and gave a smirk.

"Barry don't-" Belén didn't get to finish when he sped out of the room. "He wouldn't…" she dared to think that Barry wouldn't be that impulsive.

But...Jay knew better. "Yeah, he is," he answered with eyes shut.

A second later, Barry sped into the room straight for the breach only to be thrown backwards. He landed in a small roll on the floor and groaned. "Maybe I'm not fast enough."

This time it was only Axel who burst into laughter. "Boom! Barry went boom!"

"Yeah!" Cisco gave him a high-five, missing Barry throwing them a mini-glare as he got back on his feet.

"I don't believe your speed is the entirety of the issue, Barry. It might be the breach's stability or lack thereof," Stein hypothesized more correctly.

"He's right," Jay nodded. "We need to think of the breach as a door, and on Earth Two, there's another door. In between, we have a hallway, but the hallway's constantly shifting, twisting, collapsing upon itself. And the doors keep moving with it."

"So we stabilize the door, we stabilize the hallway," Cisco understood the idea.

"And then I can jump through it," Barry beamed.

"Exactly, it would serve as a kind of cannon," Jay smiled but no one like Cisco.

"A speed cannon. Mm. We should hang out more," Cisco pointed at him, making the others laugh.

"Alright," Stein cut into the laughter. "No more tests today. All of you are leaving now, as am I. Cherish the gift of youth as I will go cherish my much needed nap." He motioned the entire group to get going. "Clarissa's already on her way to pick me up. Why not go get some coffee?"

"That is a fantastic idea!" Cisco agreed, already rubbing his hands together at the thought of some sweet coffee. "Jitters anyone?"

"You paying?" Belén teased.

"Can I get some chocolate milk?" Axel rushed up to Belén with his own hands put together. When Belén saw that she sighed do deeply.

"You have got to stop spending so much time with Cisco, buddy."

The others snickered while Cisco let out a mighty offended gasp with a hand over his chest.

~0~

Iris joined the group for some midday coffee and was excited to hear about the breach discovery, though not so much after she learned there 53 in their city. While Barry went to get their coffee, the others remained at the table chatting. Belén, however, was pulled away from the conversation when her phone started ringing. Seeing it was her mother calling, she dumped her phone into her purse and decided to go help Barry bring back their drinks.

"Need some help?" she asked him.

"Still waiting," Barry motioned to the barista running behind the counter. "You okay?" he noticed her anxious expression.

"Yeah," she said a bit too fast to be convincing. "Mom's calling and all."

"And you're not going to answer?"

"Not if I don't trust myself not to shout."

Barry thought that was fair enough. He pressed a kiss to her temple and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer to him. Belén smiled to herself and got to thinking about the fact they hadn't really kissed either.

_What kind of getting-back-together is this?_ Belén wondered if Barry had thought about it too. If he had, then he was being really good about it.

"Order 20!" A barista slid a coffee on the counter then hurried to continue with other orders.

A blonde woman leaned on the couple's side to reach for her drink then offered a shy smile at them once they could see her clearly. Only a couple days were needed to learn that Patty Spivot was a shy woman.

"Hey guys," she greeted with a wave of her free hand. She seemed far more cheery than when they first met her (separately). It stemmed from the fact she was finally on the metahuman task force at the precinct.

"Hey, Patty," Barry greeted. He looked down at Belén and realized he never introduced them, not that they didn't know each other already. "Oh, this is-"

Belén chuckled and lowered his gesturing hand before he could finish. "We already know each other, don't we?" she looked at Patty who laughed as well.

"Yeah, she's the one that gave me the advice to continue hassling Joe for a spot on the task force."

"I've been meaning to congratulate you, actually," Belén said. "Barry told me Joe let you in. I'm sure you'll be great."

Patty sheepishly smiling. "I'm hoping." Her smile sort of faltered when she noticed Belén's injured arm was...no longer injured. "Sorry, um...how's your arm?"

"Hm?" Belén quickly looked at her perfect arms. Her metahuman abilities kicked in and aided her in healing quicker than a normal human.

"Oh, um, it's fine. It's still a little sore but since the bullet didn't actually hit my arm it healed quicker," Belén cleared her throat and looked at the counter that was being filled with their drinks. Patty seemed to buy it since she gave an 'oh' and smiled about it.

As Barry tried gathering all of the, together, Belén laughed and decided to help. "Bells, it's hot," he said and then motioned to her hands.

"Oh shut up," she playfully rolled her eyes and took at two cups. She glanced back at Patty who was taking a sip of her coffee. "Do you want to have some coffee with us?"

Patty's eyes snapped back to the two. "Hm? Oh, no thanks," she shook her head. "I was stopping here on my way to work. Another day? I owe you for your help."

"Sure," Belén beamed at the idea.

"Great," Patty stepped aside to let the two get on with their coffee.

"C'mon," Belén led Barry away. "I like her."

"I do too. She's lively and she knows her way around a crime scene," Barry said, missing Belén's sarcastic glance.

"Hmm, young, pretty, blonde _and_ a nerd? Should I be worried?"

"Wh-what!?" At that point he nearly did dropped the cups in his hands. "I-I no! That's...that's not at all what I meant, Bells!"

Belén laughed as they approached their table.

"What's with you two?" Iris eyed them.

"Oh, nothing, just teasing Barry on his new girlfriend," Belén said calmly as she took her seat next to Axel.

"She's not-" Barry began rather adamantly before he realized this was just another play of hers. He sighed and shook his head. "That's not funny," he pointed at her with a stern finger.

"Seems pretty funny from my end," she said slyly and picked up her coffee.

"Hey, you guys think Professor Stein is okay, right?" Caitlin didn't even pick up her own cup before thinking yet again on Professor Stein. "I mean, Clarissa would call if there was anything wrong."

"Yeah, of course," Barry said to her, but apparently it wasn't enough to convince her.

She grabbed her phone and started getting up. "All right. I'm just gonna call and check in. I'll be back."

"Uh- I don't see that call going well," Cisco said right before he started imitating Stein. "Young lady, these repeated intrusions are interrupting what should be a speedy recov-" but in the midst of his mockery he bumped into a passing brunette woman. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

The brunette looked up and revealed herself as Lisa Snart who answered in her usual flirty tone. "Don't apologize. You can bump into me any day, Cisco."

"Lisa Snart," Cisco's eyes widened.

"Oh, hell no," Belén said outright annoyed. Meanwhile, Barry tried hiding behind his coffee cup.

"You here to double-cross us again, or are you and your big bro holding up coffee shops now?" asked Cisco.

"Auntie Belén," Axel once again tugged on her good arm. "Who's she?"

"Someone who needs to _go_ ," Belén answered loudly for Lisa to get the point. "I would think you and your brother would stay away from places where there's children present."

Lisa didn't respond in her usual snarky tone. "I need your help," she said instead.

"In your dreams, Sister Cold," Cisco nearly laughed.

"I think her brain was finally frozen," Belén stared at the woman. "You do realize we could call in the Flash and the Azalea at any moment, right?"

Lisa nodded. "Call him. I know you two have a thing, so call him."

Barry nearly choked on his coffee while Belén gaped. Iris just smirked - she kinda liked this Lisa Snart.

"Unbelievable," Belén looked away, her face rather warm. "Was it that obvious?"

Her response was a very loud scoff from Iris.

Cisco had been studying Lisa in the meanwhile and had noticed something was just off with her. There was an actual shred of fear sitting in her eyes, and...concern? Was that even possible in a Snart?

"You really want us to call then," he said in realization.

"I need their help too," Lisa confessed. "My brother's been kidnapped."

~ 0 ~

Of course very curious to see what Lisa meant, the group took her back to STAR Labs to get the full story. However, both Belén and Barry made the excuse they had to go take Axel somewhere else - they may have forgotten their excuse as soon as Lisa was gone with Caitlin and Cisco. Instead, they let Iris take Axel and the two beat the trio to STAR Labs to get changed.

"I saw it happen," Lisa swore. She stood in the middle of the cortex, explaining her situation to the group before they would send her off. "Last night, Lenny, me, and Mick were knocking over the cashier's cage at Central City Racetrack-"

"Does it physically pain your family not to rob people?" Belén blamed herself for being so surprised when she knew she was dealing with a family of criminals.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "I never finished the job. After Mick torched through the side entrance, I looked back for Lenny and saw him getting thrown into the back of a van."

"And why didn't you and Mick follow?" asked Barry.

"I would have. Someone hit me from behind and knocked me out," Lisa gestured to her head. "When I came to, Lenny was gone, and Mick already made off with the cash."

"How do we know this isn't some kind of a trap?" Cisco logically wondered.

"If Lenny wanted Flash dead, he would have let Mardon, Simmons, and Bivolo take that honor, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember," Barry mumbled, thinking of it as yet another logical reason not to help them again.

"Good. Then you'll also recall that you owe Lenny a favor for saving your life. Time to make good on that debt."

"Even if we wanted to help, how are we supposed to find him?" Barry asked honestly.

Cisco turned on his feet and walked for the desk. "Not a problem. See, when I rebuilt the cold gun, I didn't have time to place a tracker on it, so I devised a method of locating it by borrowing some military technology." He started typing on the computer. "See, the gun works the same as thermal imaging, only instead of infrared heat signatures, it's looking for ultraviolet cold signatures. Whoa, look at that. The gun's UV thermal reading was last picked up at 5th and Hoyt eight minutes ago."

"All right. Let's see if you're a liar," Barry said to Lisa before speeding out.

"I'm _not_ ," Lisa argued but he had already left.

"That's debatable," Belén said under her breath, but not as quiet as she thought because Lisa had heard perfectly.

As it turned out, Cisco was right on where to find Snart. However, they did not account for Snart being with his father. As a result, Barry ended up being nearly frozen to death. Thanks to Cisco's new addition to the suit, the ice melted into nothing and he was able to return to STAR Labs where he had half a mind to tell Lisa Snart off.

"So your brother was not kidnapped. He was pulling a job with your _father_ ," he sourly informed Lisa upon arriving.

Lisa was nothing but confused. "What? No, Lenny would never do that."

"Oh, just like he would never try and kill The Flash with his cold gun?" Belén pretended to think. "Do you _know_ your brother?"

Lisa still couldn't get over the confusion. It was the first clue that perhaps she wasn't lying to them. "Are you sure it was my dad?"

Cisco pulled up a reference file of her father. Caitlin walked over to the computer hanging on the wall. "That's him. Lewis Snart. Convicted of larceny, armed robbery, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon."

"You have to believe me," Lisa pleaded. "Lenny would never work with him," she then added, like it was a secret no one in the room knew, "He's a bad guy."

"Did you miss the memo or something?" Belén honestly wondered if Lisa was just pretending she and her family weren't criminals. She was aware she was being ruder than usual but when it came to the Snarts she had no control.

"Why should we trust anything you say?" Caitlin crossed her arms.

Lisa stared at them a minute and then pulled on her jacket and blouse's collar to reveal a long scar running around the side of her neck. "I didn't get this scar being a criminal. I got it being a daughter," she mumbled and walked away.

The others, feeling a bit guilty, meant to follow her and get her back when Cisco stopped them. "Let me go. I got this," he made a gesture and left the room.

"I have to get to work," Belén knew she couldn't last long in the same room as a Snart. She was going to crack. "Every time I see a Snart all I think of is my sister's secret. Maybe the Azalea can take a rain check here."

"Don't worry," Barry said, understanding this wasn't one of her best moments. "We'll call you if something comes up."

Belén thanked him for it and took her leave. However when Barry got to thinking what she was planning on doing at work, he followed her out to the elevators.

"Uh, Bells, hold on a minute," his call stopped her in time. "About that article you, Linda and Iris are doing..."

Belén nodded, already knowing where this was going. She'd talked to him and the others about what they were doing and needless to say he was a little concerned with her decision.

"Barry, it'll be fine," she tried to say but he just couldn't agree so easily.

"I just don't think it's a good idea looking at where we are right now," he sighed. "You wanting to be the Azalea isn't the problem here, you know..."

"I do," Belén agreed, crossing her arms. "But if I live my life in fear because someone from another world decided to hunt me down...I'll never be happy."

"Datura is hunting you down for whatever reason and you letting the city know that the Azalea is alive might just give her more fuel to hurt you."

"Either way, Barry, she's coming to hurt me," Belén stepped closer to him, putting on her best encouraging smile for him. "Might as well let her know who she's dealing with."

Barry's lips briefly quirked into a smile. He loved hearing her so brave and sure of herself. He didn't want to be the reason it disappeared, but he just wished he could stop worrying so much.

~ 0 ~

Belén met with Linda to look over their almost finished draft. Since it was Iris' day off, they wanted to have everything finished for tomorrow so they could just give it another proofread and turn it in.

"This is really good," Linda said after reading some of Belén's lines. "Your perspective on the Azalea's disappearance is really interesting."

"Thanks," Belén felt a little ridiculous for taking a comment about a piece she did about _herself_. "I just think the city should wonder if this woman was away for so long then maybe it's for a big reason."

"I think they'll believe it," Linda said with absolute certainty. "And you know what, maybe reading this might encourage the Azalea to come back."

Belén smiled at their draft. "I think so."

"Belén?"

Belén inwardly groaned when she heard her mother's voice. "Mom," she turned away from her desk to find Veronica approaching her. "Seriously? You can't do this at my _job_ -"

But Veronica calmly raised a hand to stop her. "I'm not here to argue. I want to talk. For real."

Admittedly this did stump Belén for a minute. Her mother seemed calm, calmer than any time she'd seen her as of late.

"You can talk in the conference room," Linda suggested, nodding her head towards the empty room behind her. "No one will bother you there."

"Thank you," Veronica told her before walking towards the room, leaving not much of a choice for Belén.

"I'll be back soon," Belén promised Linda then followed her mother. She closed the glass doors and readied herself for whatever her mother threw at her.

"Bells, your mother's here…" Caitlin's eyes were widened as a gesture that she was pretty nervous of Veronica's appearance.

"Belén, please. I have a proposition," Veronica came out with it in one go, however Belén had a different idea of what she meant by a proposition.

"If it's me and Axel getting out of the city then you can forget-"

"I want to stay," Veronica surprised Belén so much that for the next minute Veronica had free range in the conversation to say what she needed to. "I've been going wrong about this, and I get it, and I'm sorry. I'm just...I've lost my kids, and not just from the divorce, but from life. Rayan's gone, Maritza's gone, even David's gone. And I thought that staying away was the best thing. I've always done better when I'm alone..."

"How'd that work out for you this time?" Belén crossed her arms, unable to keep her resentment at bay. "Because for us it didn't go too well."

"I was wrong," Veronica knew those three words would become part of her daily vocabulary. "I have never been very good at expressing my feelings and when I do they're always in the wrong manner. But you just have to know that I _do_ love you, okay? You're my daughter, how could I not?"

"I have never doubted that," Belén said quietly, shifting on her feet. "But you have never, ever, tried to see things from another person's perspective. Everything always has to be _your_ way or it just blows up."

"I know, I see that now," Veronica nodded her head. "That's why I want to stay here in the city, and change, so that I can be that mother you need. I know things will never be perfect, but I want to _try_."

"You say that now but by Sunday you'll be back to your regular self," Belén remarked.

"Not this time. I mean it. I already made calls to SCPD to transfer here."

Belén's eyes widened. "You...you did that?"

"Mhm. I'm hoping to get transferred here, at the CCPD. And look," Veronica went back to her purse where she pulled out a manila folder, "this is something else I think could be good for both of us." She walked up to Belén and held out the folder.

Eyes glued on her mother, Belén took the folder and opened it up. She skimmed a couple of lines which resulted in a contract...and proposition?

"What the hell is this?" she looked up.

"I want to buy the house off you," Veronica declared. Belén's mouth fell open once again. "It's clear you and I can't live together, and maybe it's for the best now. You're a young woman who, as you've said, is trying to make her life now. You're selling the house and I would like to buy it."

Belén's eyes nearly popped out from her head from how wide they were.

"And-" Veronica continued with a gesture that Belén should keep looking through the papers, "-I want you to sign Axel's custody over to me, but-" she raised a finger when she saw Belén opening her mouth to argue, "-with conditions. I honestly don't think you are ready to take on the responsibility of a child. It's not that I think you are incapable. I just think you're too young for this."

"I am-"

"Belén _please_ just stop being stubborn and view things logically for a moment," Veronica pleaded. Belén snapped shut the folder but adhered to the request. "You're at the starting point of your life. You just had an accident, your job is barely beginning, and I even hear you're starting a relationship again, and all that gets complicated when you have a child to look after. Tell me you haven't gone crazy looking for babysitters? Axel goes to school now and that can't be easy when it's only three hours a day. Plus, I can't imagine the sleepless nights you've had trying to look after him. He's four and he doesn't have his mother anymore. I know you're trying, but...it has to be hard for you, right?"

Belén bit her lip, her initial annoyance subsiding when she got to thinking. Of course there'd been days where she just couldn't find someone to look after Axel while she went to train for the aerial show or even just to go to work. There were sleepless nights that often had her nearly falling asleep at work. Then there were moments that she just didn't know how to talk to Axel, especially when he asked about Maritza.

"I'm not trying to take Axel away from you. On the contrary, I want to stay here in the city, live in the old house with Axel where you and I can make plans to see each other more often. I'm going to get old eventually," Veronica smiled lightly, "And when that time comes, you'll probably have a family of your own and then you'll know how to care for Axel and your children. It'll be _your_ decision to have them."

Belén re-opened the folder to look things over again. Her mind was fumbling with different ideas but they were all screaming at her to agree. This was the closest thing her mother had ever done to benefit _her_ and Belén couldn't find it in her to disagree when her mother seemed to be honest. Because in the end, she did love her mom and she did want to form some sort of relationship before it was too late.

~ 0 ~

Returning to STAR Labs (as the Azalea), Belén came to quite a sight. Lisa was sitting on a stool with Barry and Caitlin, the former as the Flash and holding some sort of whirring device in front of Lisa's neck.

"What in the hell is going on here?" Belén walked over to them.

"There's a bomb inside Lisa's that her father put," Caitlin responded then moved on to tell Barry, "Once you hold it steady with the magnet, I can surgically excise it."

Cisco came running into the room shouting for them to stop. "Put the magnet down! This is a really concentrated bomb. It's gonna combust if it's exposed to magnetic friction and an oxidant."

Caitlin and Barry retracted one large step away from Lisa who shared the same confused face as Belén.

"In English please?" Belén asked them.

"Air. Uh, the bomb will explode if it comes in contact with air," Barry replied.

"Scientific minds. Can we confer, please?" Cisco motioned to be followed into a side room.

"Yeah, I'm not scientific but I don't want to be near her," Belén mumbled and flashed an apologetic smile at Lisa. "This time no offence."

For once Lisa smiled back.

"What if Flash speed extracts it?" Caitlin wondered once they were in a separate room.

"Nope, it's too risky," Cisco shook his head. "I'm gonna find a way to get it out. I just need a little time."

"But you could lose track of Snart and his dad," Belén pointed out.

"I wish we knew what he was gonna steal next and when," Barry said, thinking. It only took a moment for an idea to pop into his head. "Maybe I can get them to tell me. Their tech guy is dead, so I'm betting they're gonna need a new one. I should infiltrate Lewis' crew."

Belén burst into a fit of laughter but abruptly stopped when she met Barry's offended face. "Oh, you weren't kidding?"

"No, I wasn't," Barry frowned.

"You're gonna pretend to be a criminal?" even Caitlin was surprised of the idea.

"How hard can it be?" Barry shrugged, not thinking about it too much.

"How do I say it nicely…?" Belén mumbled, thinking for a minute before coming up with, "...you're kind of a dork."

Barry tilted his head at her. Was this the best she could come up with? And she was trying to be nice. "Well, as long as you're being nice."

Belén smiled. "You know I mean that affectionately, but...you just have a thing about you that screams…"

"Nerd?" Cisco finished, or blurted.

Belén laughed again. "That's the word!"

Barry shook his head at them. "Thanks guys, really."

"Oh, c'mon," Belén couldn't stop laughing however and so Barry left the room before they added more to his apparent persona.

~0~

"He actually went through with it," Belén couldn't say she was surprised Barry went through with his idea to pretend to be a criminal and tag along with Snart and his dad.

Caitlin laughed as the two walked for the cortex holding respective cups of coffee in their hands. "I think he might have done it just to prove us wrong."

When the two women returned to the cortex Cisco had devised a new way to retrieve the bomb from inside Lisa. He had fashioned a gun-like device with a fitted clear tube sticking above from it.

"What exactly are you gonna do to me with that thing?" Lisa hadn't stopped staring at the big gun she knew was going to be aimed at her pretty soon.

"Operating pressure on this is over 1,000 PSI. This will easily suck the micro-bomb out of your neck and into the barrel of this with one high-powered sho," Cisco tapped the top of the gun. "There is one slight risk."

"Besides shooting a high-powered weapon directly against my neck? "

"The gun does use compressed air," Cisco admitted and looked at the other two women.

Lisa reached a hand on his arm and softly said. "I trust you, Cisco."

"Maybe that's one thing we have in common," Belén smiled at Cisco. "Do your thing. But, uh...we'll be over here," she gestured to herself, Axel and Caitlin.

Cisco nodded a thanks and moved a bit to the side to finish the last bit of the gun. Almost at the same time, Belén's cellphone went off. She took it and walked to the side to take Iris' call, not that she had much of a conversation since Iris was in a fit.

"Bells? I need you!" Iris blurted frantically, worrying Belén she was in trouble.

"What? What is it!?"

"It's just...my dad told me that...that my Mom was actually _alive_ and-"

"He _what_?" Belén's mouth fell open. "She's...like...breathing-alive?"

"Oh yeah, the whole thing. Please, I just...I really need someone I can talk to with 'mom problems'. Didn't even know I could have those," she mumbled in the end.

"Y-yeah, don't worry. Are you home?"

"Yes."

"Okay, I'll be right over," Belén promised and hung up. "I have to go but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Is everything alright?" Caitlin asked once she detected something was off in Belén's tone.

"Yeah, um...I hope," Belén pushed herself up from her chair. "I'll be back later, promise."

"We'll handle things," Caitlin assured.

Belén thanked her once more and hurried to find Iris. Like the woman had said, Iris was sitting at home completely alone. She had Axel coloring at the dining table actually quiet. She had pulled up several of her old albums that happened to contain some of her mother's pictures. It was all completely crazy to her. First, she thought her mother was dead and now apparently Francine was more than alive. But then...her father told her that Francine was dying. How was she supposed to think when there was all that behind it?

She nearly jumped from the couch when she heard someone knocking. She opened it up and was relieved to find Belén on the other side. "Thanks for coming, Bells."

"Yeah, of course," Belén walked in but not before giving her a hug. "I can't believe your mom's alive."

"Me neither," Iris said and closed the door. "I didn't have anyone to talk to about this. I mean, I tried getting through to Barry but he wasn't answering-"

"Oh, he's off being a criminal," Belén waved that off and headed into the living room. Iris made a face behind but filed that under 'ask later'.

"Bells, I'm so confused. I saw her today," Iris stopped by the couch, allowing Belén to sit down first. Belén reached for an open photo album with a picture of a baby Iris and her mother. "Like...she was _there_ , and…" Iris shook her head, still unable to believe it.

"How is she?" Belén thought to ask.

"She's...put together," Iris took a seat beside her. "My Dad said that...she used to be a drug addict. She was put together and I told her...to go away. That's what I said to her."

"I think that's completely understandable. I mean, if she left…"

"Oh, she _left_ ," Iris said with a bit of resentment in her tone. "She just got up and left and then suddenly decided she wanted to see me again." But even then Iris knew that wasn't the complete truth. "She's...sick. That's what she told my dad. But...I don't know if I can believe her. She's made my dad lie this whole time who knows what comes out of her mouth now."

"Well, you're a reporter, research her," Belén instructed. "You're the daughter of a cop, and a badass of a reporter. This is your perfect talent. Use it."

"And if it turns out to be true?" Iris asked quietly. "If my mom...is dying...what do I do?"

"I can't tell you what to do," Belén shook her head. "I mean, you see the problems I'm having with my own mother, but if Francine came back at this moment...she probably wanted to make amends before she…" made a gesture and sighed. "But you have to be really committed. You can't do it out of guilt. It's okay if you don't want to know her because the truth of the matter is, while biologically she's your mother...she was never A a mother to you. I think she would understand that."

Iris nodded. "Yeah," she mumbled.

Belén stared at her for a minute before reaching over and hugging her again. "Come here!" Iris smiled as she was rocked a bit by the woman. "If you want we could research together."

Iris truly thought about it for a minute but went against it in the end. "I need to do it alone. But thank you so much."

"Don't worry, I understand," Belén nodded her head. "But you also need to understand that I'm gonna hug you for five more minutes."

Iris laughed.

~ 0 ~

At one point in the heist he was being forced to pull, Barry wondered how he would rub it in Belén's face that his plan had gone right so far. She thought he was too dorky to actually play off being a trained techy criminal. She so owed him, that much he knew.

Now as the Flash, he appeared to Snart and his father right at the end of their heist, ready to stop them. Both of them were getting ready to leave the vault with all the diamonds they found.

"Only place you're going is back to Iron Heights, Lewis," Barry spat at the older man he really disliked, and not just because he had shot him five minutes ago.

Snart raised his cold gun at Barry but did not shoot. Lewis, on the other hand, just smiled. "Ah, you wanna bet?"

That was the question wasn't it? Barry raised a hand to his earpod. "Do I wanna bet?

"Do not bet!" he immediately heard Cisco's shout. "Give me a minute."

"Tell me this, what kind of man puts a bomb in his own daughter?" Barry started to ask, hoping Cisco wouldn't be too long.

"A very rich man," Lewis smirked. "Shoot him, son." But as Snart failed to do so, Lewis pulled out a small, silver device that Barry assumed was the controller of the bomb inside Lisa. "Kill him or you'll never see your sister alive."

Barry wondered how this could play out where both he and Lisa got out alive. Thankfully, he didn't have to think for too long before he heard Cisco's 'okay'.

"Lisa's safe," he told Snart. Almost on reflex, Snart redirected his cold gun at his father and shot him square in the chest.

Lewis fell on his knees with nearly his entire body covered in ice. "You're working with The Flash? I thought you hated him?"

"Not as much as I... _hate_ you," Snart responded, almost trembling from the hatred he felt for the man now dead on the floor.

Barry cautiously moved up to Snart and gently pulled the cold gun from his hands - to which the other man didn't even fight for. "Lisa was safe. Why did you do that?"

Snart looked up with cold eyes. "He broke my sister's heart. Only fair I break his."

~0~

With the Snarts' dilemma finished - however badly it was - the rest of the team called it a day. Belén hadn't stopped by STAR Labs anymore due to the time, so she left Iris' place with Axel and returned home. She put Axel to bed, with the promise that things would be looking better for them now. He was certainly excited to learn his grandmother would be staying in the city. His excitement deterred his sleep but eventually, after two or three bedtime stories, Belén got him to fall asleep.

She had to admit, the idea of having her mother around - on good terms - was something that made her smile.

Her thoughts about the new arrangement were interrupted when she found her dining table decorated with candles and dinner she'd most certainly hadn't cooked. (She may or may not have bought Axel take out and called it dinner).

"This is a surprise," she admitted when she saw Barry standing next to the table. He was holding one azalea in his hand and was wearing a nice outfit.

"The many perks of being a speedster means I can basically be a ninja," Barry smirked which just made her laugh. He moved up to her and held the azalea out for her. "I know we didn't have a chance for a nice date outside and I know it's just harder for you right now, so...I thought maybe a house-date might work better."

"House date," Belén repeated with a soft chuckle. "Thank you for that." She took her azalea from his hand and gave it a sniff. "And thank you for my flower. My deadly, poisonous flower."

"Yeah, keep that away from Axel..."

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and gazed at the dinner table. "Thank you for this. All of it. I really love it. I'm just sad I'm not better dressed."

"What are you talking about? You're looking lovely as usual," Barry dramatically gestured at her.

"Barry, stop," Belén laughed but Barry continued on with his compliments, from her hair to her shoes. Eventually she managed to quiet him down only to keep Axel from waking up.

The two sat close to each other at the table and started on their dinner. It was from the same restaurant they visited on their first date.

"Good points, Mr. Allen," Belén pointed her fork at Barry. "Only this time I'm not going to spit anything out."

Barry nearly laughed when he remembered her spitting out a spicy meal she'd ordered on their first date. "I thought it was cute."

"It was awful. I'm surprised you didn't walk out there and then," Belén reached for a sip of her drink.

"Why would I? You were gorgeous then, and now I know you're the best thing that could ever happen to me."

Belén lowered her fork for a moment to smile at him. "You're smooth tonight. Thanks."

"I'm just glad you're smiling again," Barry passed a finger under her chin, widening her smile.

It was then that Belén realized she hadn't told him about her mother's latest visit that day. "My mom stopped by again..."

"Oh, Belén..." Barry figured Veronica pushed her again and was prepared to comfort her.

"No! Um...things actually got better," Belén felt weird just saying that sentence about her mother. She was so used to always having problems with Veronica. "She um, she...she made a proposition. She's buying the house from me. She's going to live here, actually, with Axel."

"She still made you give up custody?"

"No, uuh...I agreed," Belén nodded. She drew in a big breath before explaining her reasoning. "I love my nephew, I do, but I'm fully aware that I'm not ready to take care of him nor any child for that matter. I'm trying my best but if things keep going the way the were...I'm going to drown, Barry. I'm just...I'm not ready for it and I just want Axel to be okay..."

Barry set his hands on her shoulders to keep her from going into a long ramble that would eventually turn her face purple due to lack of oxygen. "I get it. You don't need to explain it to me."

"I don't want you to think I'm giving him up like if he were nothing."

"I would never think that. I've seen firsthand how much you love him. If you're making this choice it's because you're sure Axel is going to be okay. He's going to be good."

"I think he will be," Belén said with absolute certainty. "Mom's transferring to the precinct so she'll be around. Who knows, maybe this is our chance at actually having a relationship."

"I'm really happy for you, Bells," Barry said, taking his hands off her shoulders. "I'm glad Veronica finally came to her senses."

"Well..." Belén cleared her throat. Barry noticed her shifting on her chair and wondered what else she had to say. "She didn't come up with it entirely on her own. Maritza...actually inspired her." Barry's eyebrows raised together in shock. "I know," Belén chuckled lightly. "I was just as surprised as you were. Mom told me she visited Maritza and that Maritza basically called her out on everything."

"I mean...that was..." Barry couldn't even find the proper words to commend Maritza for her actions. It certainly brought a lot of happiness for Belén and that made him see Maritza in a new light.

"I'm thankful," Belén bit her lip nervously. "I'm basically getting a second chance with my Mom thanks to Maritza."

"I'm happy for you, a lot," Barry smiled.

Belén stared at him for a minute with a soft smile. "Yeah, things are finally getting better for me."

She got up from her chair and surprised Barry by sitting on his lap. She looped an arm around his neck and pressed her lips to his for a kiss. It was a much awaited kiss that was filled with feelings - some of those feelings were from the very day they'd broken up. Barry wrapped an arm of his around Belén's waist, keeping her steady as well keeping her close to his body. His free hand came to rest on her cheek and repeatedly stroked circles over her skin with his thumb.

They remained like that for a couple minutes until they felt their feelings for each other had been rekindled.

They gazed at each other with the same dazed smiles until someone spoke up.

"I need more dates like this," Belén spoke for the two of them.

Barry thought the same thing and went ahead and kissed her again.

Dinner was pushed back for a couple minutes.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Let me just say this chapter was a bit difficult to write for some reason. I re-arranged the order of scenes so much, I'm really hoping it came out good!

On an unrelated note, for some reason (I know, I have a lot of 'for some reasons'), I've been hung up on a new OC story for the Flash. I've had to literally sit down and draft one chapter for this OC, whose name I already picked out. I'm awful xD. It's funny too because as I'm drafting that OC, I'm writing up Belén's story for the Flash's season 4. I'm writing them side by side which actually helps me to make the two OCs different. Even now with one chapter written, I already know Belén is more playful than serious unlike this new OC. Anyways, forgive me for my rambles, I just felt like sharing xD. Feel free to comment on this!

**For the review:** Awww, thank you so much! I hope you liked this chapter then since you were waiting for the Snarts! :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	4. A New Firestorm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belén and her mother struggle to meet each other halfway, especially when Veronica makes it clear that she does not want Barry around her daughter. It only gets more complicated when they have to juggle the search for a new half of Firestorm.

Despite the team's best efforts, professor Stein was still under heavy health risks.

"Hold him steady!" Cisco shouted at Caitlin and Barry who were frantically trying to keep Stein's convulsing body still enough for Cisco to come in with a device similar to the Firestorm splicer. It was just hard to do when Stein kept spontaneously blowing blue flames.

"He's dropping out!" Caitlin anxiously said.

Cisco had managed to get in and put the splicer on Stein's chest, but his fingers fumbled trying to get it activated. "Come on, come on, come on, come on!"

"Cisco, we're losing him!"

But just then Cisco heard the splicer make a 'click!' and pulled back with a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh, Díos mío. Thank God."

"He's getting worse," Barry sighed and stared at the now unconscious Stein. It had been a cycle like this all night and they still had no real ideas on how to stabilize him permanently.

"Look, I did what I could to re-engineer Doctor Wells' original stabilizer to quell the reaction, but I don't know what he used as a power source," Cisco started out the side room. "Best I could find was the one from his wheelchair."

"And how long will that last?" Caitlin wondered as she and Barry followed him out.

"Well, that's the problem, we had already used up most of its energy trying to dampen the metas' powers during our little rogue air trip with Weather Wizard and company. I think we got a few days tops."

"And he's stuck in bed?"

"Yeah, when he wakes up, I'm gonna transfer the stabilizer to this, give him a power cane, get him moving," Cisco moved over to a table to pick up another silver device.

Barry knew that was only a temporary situation and sooner or later Stein would be in trouble yet again. "We gotta figure out a way to save him."

"I think I might know how to do that," Caitlin decided to share her spontaneous idea with them. She headed for the main desk and pulled up Stein's profile up on one of the computers across them. "When the Particle Accelerator exploded, the dark matter that collided with Professor Stein fused with the Firestorm matrix and altered the normal molecular processes that occurs within his body. Those highly reactive molecules needed something to bond with in order to stabilize. But now that Ronnie is no longer a part of Professor Stein-"

"Those molecules don't have anything to bond to," Barry realized the problem.

"And the longer he goes without merging, the more unstable he becomes."

"Ugh," Cisco foresaw a much bigger problem of finding Stein a new replacement. "All right, so, what do we do?"

"We find another... participant."

Cisco shot Caitlin a sarcastic look. "Okay, cool, so, how do we do that? Are we just gonna make a Tinder app for potential meta-humans? 'Cause I'm pretty sure merging with Stein and randomly bursting into flames sounds like the biggest "swipe left" of all time."

Barry disapproved of Cisco's lack of seriousness but did have to agree that it wouldn't such an easy thing finding someone willing to become Firestorm. "I mean, even if we could find someone willing, Stein can't just merge with whoever he wants."

"No he can't, but I have done some research, and found two potential candidates that might be compatible with him," Caitlin typed on the computer to bring up two young men's profiles. "They both were affected by the dark matter, and they were both admitted to the hospital showing symptoms of gene rearrangement mutation. And they both share the same blood type as Professor Stein and Ronnie."

"All right. I mean, this is more than organ donation," Barry felt the need to remind her. "We'll need more than tissue typing to see if their bodies are compatible."

"If I can isolate the genetic locus of the two candidates and cross-reference it with the mutations in Professor Stein, I might be able to find a match and save his life."

"What do you need to do that?"

Caitlin formed an apologetic smile, indicating she would definitely be requiring his speedy abilities.

~ 0 ~

Belén was uncomfortable. She didn't need to say it: her body outright showed it. From the way she awkwardly sat on the metal chair, to the way her hand reached for the prison phone...everything screamed " _I don't know what to do here_ ".

Luckily, Maritza had assumed the reason her sister came to visit. "I'm glad that you and Mom are salvaging the only family relationship left in this...wonky family of ours. I know that with time you'll be close, like it should've been from the start."

Belén gave a low sigh of doubt. As much as she wanted that closeness with her mother, she was aware that it wouldn't happen overnight and that it certainly wouldn't be easy. She told Maritza that and added her biggest fear: "I can't even be completely honest with her."

Maritza knew she was talking about Belén's double life as a metahuman. "Maybe it's better that she doesn't know."

Belén shrugged and looked to the side in thought. "Despite everything that's happened between us Maritza...I just want to say..." There was a clear struggle for her to say it out loud but she knew Maritza did deserve it this time. "... _thank you_."

Maritza blinked in surprise since she hadn't been expecting that. In fact, she hadn't been expecting any form of gratitude from Belén anytime soon - maybe not even in this lifetime after what she did. "Belén..."

"You did a lot of bad things Maritza but this was something nice..." Belén drew in a breath, "So...thanks. It's better to be friends with my mother than enemies. At least this way I get to see Axel and...he's good. Better, now, actually, since he's living with his grandmother now."

"I'm happy to hear that you're doing better now," Maritza offered a smile that Belén couldn't return. "I saw one of the newspapers with your article in it."

Belén blinked and stared at her sister with curiosity. Her article about the Azalea being alive had finally been published and was so far doing well with the public's response. They were eager and hopeful that their beloved Azalea was still alive. Belén just never expected for her sister to be one of the readers. "You read my articles?"

Maritza smiled again. "Of course I do. You're a hell of a writer and the fact you're making a comeback to the city is amazing. I'm glad that you're doing better, Belén. You deserve that. You deserve...everything."

And just like before coming, Belén didn't know what to do.

~ 0 ~

Barry intended on getting back to STAR Labs as quick as possible after he finished a bit of work at the station. If he continued to make unscheduled leaves then someone would definitely start to notice and that would be the last thing he needed at the moment. He hurried down the stairs with a needed case file in his hands, and in his rush to get to Joe, he bumped into a tall woman who then dropped her purse.

"I-I am so sorry!" Barry went to pick up the purse off the floor. When he looked up to see the woman he was met with familiar-looking brown eyes.

"That's fine," Veronica Green took back her purse with a polite smile. "I wasn't looking where I was going either." In his surprise, Barry couldn't say anything. Veronica tilted her head to examine the young man. "I know you, don't I? I've seen you…"

"Th-the...funeral," Barry stuttered to explain and seeing Veronica's confused gaze he shook his head and began anew. "I'm Barry Allen-" he stuck a hand to shake with hers.

"Oh, right," Veronica shook his hand politely. "You were my daughter's boyfriend."

"Well, not 'was'... _am_ …" Barry watched her awkwardly process that news and wondered if the woman was about to hate him or mildly tolerate him. She didn't appear too friendly at the moment.

"Oh," was all that came out from Veronica's lips.

_She hates me_ , Barry concluded.

"Barry? Hey!" he then heard Patty call for him and thanked every God he knew of for the distraction. It was incredibly awkward - even for his usual.

Patty came rushing up to him and Veronica, smiling widely. "You'll never guess what I found." But before Barry could even begin to guess she held up a plastic bag of teeth.

"Are those... _teeth_?" Barry made a face.

"Shark teeth," Patty excitedly corrected. "And I have an eyewitness that says he saw a shark walking on land-a man-shark."

"Man-shark?" this time Veronica had spoken up, letting Patty realize she had yet to know who the other woman was. "This city has man-sharks?" Veronica looked at Barry like he had the answers.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Patty inquired.

"Veronica Green," Veronica reached to shake Patty's hand. "I'm transferring from Star City."

"Oh, nice," Patty smiled as she shook the woman's hand. "Patty Spivot. I just started working here too."

"Right, I know. And I'm assuming you're working on...what are they called again? Metahumans?" Veronica's face said it all. It was an absolutely not. The things she was doing for her daughter she could not believe.

"Well…" Patty said after Veronica took an abrupt leave, "...she seems like a cheery one."

"That's actually Belén's mother," Barry watched Veronica head for Singh's office.

"Oh my God," Patty put a hand over her mouth.

"Don't worry, I think Belén knows that too."

Patty glanced at him, surprised by his statement.

Barry winced. "Don't...tell her I said that, actually."

"Only if you don't tell her what I said."

"Deal."

The two smiled at each other.

"So, um...do you think that's actually real?" Barry one again looked at the bag of teeth. He had heard and seen of all sorts of metahumans but a shark that walked on land seemed just a bit too much.

"Yeah, I mean, I know it sounds really wacko...but, I mean, nothing seems impossible now that we have meta-humans, right? And I thought it would be fun, you know, for us to work together again on a case."

"Yeah, I mean, I really- I'd love to work on anything with you. Um, it's just, you know, meta-humans aren't really my thing," Barry tried looking as convincing as ever. He didn't want Patty looking too much into the metahuman criminals lest she be kidnapped again.

"Really? I mean...I can handle it myself…"

Then again, if she was going to keep looking into it herself, alone, Barry would rather have an eye on her upclose. "No, you-look, how about I just- I'll run a test, see where the teeth came from."

Patty beamed. "That would be amazing! Thank you!" she handed the bag over to him.

Joe walked out of the office room and saw the bag of shark teeth. "How's your man-shark case coming?" he looked at Patty, amused.

"It's good. I was just gonna go and canvas the area, see what else I can dig up, and Barry here agreed to run some tests for me."

"Really?" Joe raised an eyebrow and looked over to Barry.

"Mm-hmm. So, progress," Patty beamed and said another 'thanks' to Barry before leaving herself.

"For real?" Joe inquired from Barry, eyes trained on the bag of teeth.

"If it's another meta I'd rather know first and lead Patty away from it before something like Sand Demon happens again," Barry explained.

"Mm," Joe walked over to the reception desk to leave behind some papers and then started back for his office.

"Uh, so did you hear we have a new co-worker?" Barry followed after him and glanced at Singh's office where he could see Veronica having an idle chat with him.

Joe followed his gaze to the office and nodded. "Wasn't expecting that from one phone call, I'll tell you that."

"Yeah I don't think she likes me very much…" Barry let his file flop on Joe's desk.

Joe started to laugh. "What parent likes their daughter's boyfriend?"

" _Thanks_ ," Barry said with a straight face. To his dismay, Joe only continued to laugh more. He felt his phone vibrating in his pocket and pulled it up to see who it was. "Hey, you know what, I gotta go. It's Cisco. It's about Professor Stein."

"Okay, go, I'll cover you with Singh," Joe shooed him off and just as Barry turned to leave he heard the man laugh again.

It was _not_ funny.

~ 0 ~

In the cortex, Stein tried out his new makeshift silver cane that was meant to keep him stabilized in the meantime they found a possible firestorm partner. "Well, I must admit, I never imagined the Sphinx's riddle about a man requiring three legs would ever apply to me, but if this device keeps me mobile, then I will gratefully oblige."

Caitlin smiled at the man as he took a small trip in the cortex to test out the cane. "Hopefully, you won't need it for much longer," she gestured to the two profiles of the candidates that could possibly (and hopefully) work to save him. "There was no agglutination in the blood samples, and cross-matching was negative for both, and it appears that the dark matter from the Particle Accelerator explosion mutated their genes in a very similar way it did to yours. I think they're both potential matches."

"So who do we go with?" Belén looked at the two men on the computer screen. She could see one was far younger than the other but as far as she could tell they both matched Stein. "Do we pull popsicle sticks or…?"

Caitlin chuckled and shook her head. "My first choice is Henry Hewitt. He graduated summa cum laude from Hudson University with a double major in Applied Physics and Bioengineering."

"A Hudson boy," Stein said thoughtfully. "I like him already."

"What about this other guy, Jefferson Jackson?" Barry moved up to the computer to take a closer look. "High school quarterback, 4.0 student. He's got the physical attributes. And it looks like more of his alleles match than Hewitt's. Doesn't that mean that he's more compatible?"

Caitlin reluctantly agreed but it was easy to see that she really did prefer Henry. "On paper, perhaps, but Hewitt is a scientist. Clearly, he's trying to make something of his life."

"That's a bit mean to say," Belén sarcastically glanced at Caitlin as if she were scolding the brunette.

"I'm just...I think he'd be open to something like this," Caitlin raised her hands in defense.

"I think we should meet with both of them before we make a decision," Cisco muttered, thinking both candidates would probably have to think about it really hard before being able to come up with a decision.

"That's an excellent idea," Stein agreed.

"I'll see if I can get Hewitt here," Caitlin said fast.

"All right, in the meantime, we'll go meet with Jefferson Jackson," Barry turned back, looking at Belén and Stein for agreement.

"I have to go pick up Axel and bring him to Mrs. Andrews," Belén patted him on the arm.

"Hey, that reminds me," Barry walked up to her while the others dispersed to do their tasks, "I met your mother today at the station."

"Oh yeah," Belén smiled. "She said she started on that transfer thing."

"Um...yeah, it's just…" Barry hated to be the one to tell her because she really did look happy about it, "...I kinda got the feeling she wasn't very happy that we were back together again."

Belén's smile faded a bit as she considered the idea that perhaps never telling her mother they were alright now could've had a bigger influence than she thought. "Oh, oh I'm sorry Barry. You know, that's probably my fault. Last time she heard you were the jerk that broke up with me."

But Barry wanted to say that he felt it was a bit more than just that. There was something about the way Veronica had looked at him earlier that...sort of said she couldn't believe her daughter had chosen _him_.

"Barry, do not worry," Belén assured him it would be fine. She set her hands on his arms and looked so sure of herself, it made Barry dread the outcome if things didn't go her way. "My Mom's a grumpy woman but she's going to try and make things work with me. Once she gets to know you - and knows how happy you make me - she'll warm up to you."

"You think?" Barry raised an eyebrow at her.

"Absolutely," Belén chuckled and leaned in to kiss him. "It'll be fine."

"Okay," Barry relented very quietly. He didn't realize how much it would bother him if Veronica ended up truly not liking him. There was something he'd been meaning to tell Belén but so far was unable to find a suitable moment and place.

Belén mistook his silence as more worry and laughed. She repeated that it would all be fine, gave him a last kiss before truly leaving. On her way out, she missed their newest E-2 visitor lurking behind.

~ 0 ~

Axel bounced on his feet while he waited for his aunt Belén to buy him that ice cream from the ice cream truck. It was his reward for getting a sticker at school that indicated he'd attempted to write his name unlike other students.

"But you know that you won't get a reward every time, right?" Belén asked after giving Axel his Bugs Bunny popsicle. "I'm happy that you're putting an effort but you don't get a reward every time."

"Mhm!" Axel practically waved her off while he licked his popsicle.

Belén playfully rolled her eyes and ushered him towards the car. While she was putting Axel into the backseat, she could've sworn she felt burning eyes on her back. She hurriedly finished adjusting Axel's seat belt then closed the car door. As she moved for the driver's seat she made a diligent look around for anything strange but as far as she could see there were only students being picked up.

_Get it together Belén_ , she berated herself and opened the driver's door.

She missed the brunette women across the street peering behind another ice cream truck. A dark smile spread across her face as she watched Belén drive off. "Gotcha."

~ 0 ~

When Belén returned to STAR Labs, she found Caitlin in a side room excitedly conversing with one of the chosen candidates for Firestorm. Cisco was sitting at the desk with a grim face at the two.

"What's going on?" Belén dropped in the chair next to him.

"Caitlin got Henry Hewitt to come," Cisco said but sounded nowhere near happy about it.

"What's wrong with him?" Belén asked quick, garnering a confused look from Cisco. "I know you hate him. It's in your voice, stupid."

Cisco smiled and shook his head. Before he got to explaining his reason of dislike for Henry, Barry and professor Stein walked into the room. Seeing them from the side room, Caitlin brought out Henry to meet them.

"Caitlin, what's going on?" Barry frowned at the sight of the man in the room.

Caitlin seemed happier than ever. "I'm glad you're back. This is Dr. Henry Hewitt. This is Barry Allen, Professor Martin Stein and Belén Palayta."

Stein shook hands with Henry. "How do you do?"

Henry seemed in awe. "The illustrious Martin Stein. I've read all your papers back at Hudson, especially on transmutation. Fascinating. You're a legend."

"Kiss-ass," Belén mumbled under her breath but she soon realized it wasn't as quiet as she thought because Cisco had snickered beside her. Even Barry had let a smile slip.

Stein laughed shyly at the praises. "Oh, please. I think you're overestimating my contribution to the field. I-I appreciate your enthusiasm."

Caitlin happily walked to the other three. "Isn't he great?"

"He's got an ego the size of Texas-" Cisco muttered, "-but, yeah, he's alright."

Caitlin rolled her eyes at him. "So, where's Jefferson Jackson?"

"We just need more time," Barry sighed. It turned out the younger candidate was more stubborn than they thought.

"We don't have more time. I couldn't find another power source for the cane and that thing's running out." Cisco didn't really like Henry that much but Stein was running out of time.

"So then...that's it?" Belén asked. "We convince Henry to do it?"

Caitlin smiled. "Oh he's already agreed. We can do the merge right now."

"What do you mean? You told him the details of the Firestorm Matrix?" Barry gave her an incredulous look.

"Absolutely, becoming Firestorm is a huge life change. He needs to know what he's getting himself into."

They were then taken when the two scientists chanted their apparent school's theme.

"Aw, look at that, that's so cute," Cisco sarcastically rose from his chair, smiling impossibly wide. "We'll have two Professor Steins if this works."

Belén laughed. "I don't think anyone could be professor Stein. There can only be one softie scientist here."

Being settled, they gathered up the potential new Firestorm and Cisco stood in front of Henry holding the splicer in his hands, giving Henry a final instruction.

"When I put this splicer on your chest you're gonna feel a rush. That's a molecular primer being released into your body. Then you can make physical contact with Professor Stein, and Firestorm Matrix will take over."

"Easy enough," Henry nodded, but the manner in which he said those words gave the impression he thought it was simple math terms.

"Ready?" Cisco asked both men this time.

"No time like the present," Stein held his cane for Caitlin to take. "Thank you, my dear."

"Okay," Cisco put the splicer on Henry's chest. The device immediately whirred to life as it sprouted three metal bars across Henry's chest.

Both Henry and Stein turned to face each other, their hands reaching to make contact with the other. Their tips flamed on before dying out, leaving the two very much separated.

"Try again," Caitlin encouraged them after a moment of confusion.

They reached out to merge again but not even flames had appeared that time. It appeared that it was not going to work.

"This is unexpected…" Stein pulled his hand back.

"Something's supposed to be happening, right?" Henry shot the others an irritated look. "Why isn't it working?"

Belén didn't like the attitude displayed towards them like it was their fault. "Genius if we knew we wouldn't be having this problem."

Cisco stepped towards the two men to take off the splicer from Henry. "Uh, well, looks like you two aren't compatible after all."

"So all this was for nothing?" Henry now openly snared.

"Believe me, no one is more disappointed than I am," Stein despondently sighed, but Henry flatout ignored the implications of the failure.

"Yeah, don't be so sure about that. Next time, try to get your act together before you get someone's hopes up." Henry stormed out of the cortex.

The group didn't know how to react after that setback. Stein would have to continue muffling through for the moment.

"So, what happens now?" Belén dreaded to ask. She and Barry walked down the street leading up to her house. "If Henry Hewitt can't merge…"

"We have to hope that Jefferson Jackson comes through," Barry said, shrugging his shoulders.

"You met him with professor Stein today, right? Did he look interested?"

"Uum…" Barry made a face that said it all.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens tomorrow," Belén hoped this other candidate would turn out to be better than Hewitt. They walked up to Belén's front porch staircase.

"Is there anyone home?" Barry looked at the dark windows of her house. Belén told him earlier in the day her mother would be staying at a hotel in the meantime they made good on the house deed.

"No, it'll just be me and Axel," Belén moved up to the door to unlock it. "I need to start packing, actually. I'm leaving Axel with Mrs. Andrews for the rest of the day so I can get a head start."

"But you're staying alone in the night?" Barry's tone indicated his outright refusal.

"Relax," Belén rolled her eyes and opened the door, "I doubt Zoom or Datura make house visits."

"I...Bells, do we really want to push that luck? Would it kill you to just stay with Caitlin some more time?"

"No offence to Caitlin, but what exactly makes it more safe at her place than here?" Belén smiled as Barry fumbled over an answer. "It's not like Caitlin has powers. Buuuuut…" she pretended innocence, "...you know, I wouldn't be opposed to some help with packing. _Without_ the speed."

"Oh c'mon," Barry complained but was already coming in after her. Belén giggled while he began making his case on why he should very much be allowed to use said speed.

~0~

The next day, the group was more than happy to see Jefferson Jackson deciding to meet with them. The young man was fascinated by all the scientific machinery set around and had to take a moment to really get the jist of the place.

"I thought S.T.A.R. Labs had to shut down," he remarked after a while.

"You can say it's under new management," Belén innocently waved a hand from her spot at the desk. She figured he looked more or less the same way she did when she first stepped foot in the room a year ago.

"Cool. So, let's get started," Jax clapped his hands. "You got some kind of "Billion Dollar Man" technology that gonna fix my knee?"

Barry realized the other man was under the ruse they would be bringing him back to his regular self. "Actually, Jax, this isn't about fixing your knee."

"What are you talking about?"

"When the Particle Accelerator exploded, the energy wave that collided with you is known as dark matter," Caitlin began explaining.

"And it didn't just hurt your knee," Stein finished for her. "It-it changed the molecular structure of your body."

Jax raised an eyebrow at him. "Whoa, hold on, Grey. So you're saying I'm like one of those meta-humans I keep hearing about on the news?"

Stein was not amused by the little nickname the man had branded him with. "Yes, I am. Please, call me Professor."

"We think you have potential capabilities," Cisco tried to explain next, assuming they were freaking Jax out.

"What kind of capabilities?"

"The same as Professor Stein: the ability for your body to process fission and fusion," Caitlin answered.

Cisco raised the splicer device for Jax to see. "And you can harness excess energy and turn it into these massive nuclear blasts."

"And, if it helps, you can fly," Belén added whimsically, adding a moment later in a low voice, "Wish I could fly."

Jax was bewildered and glanced at Stein sitting on a chair, looking far too, well, old to do all those powers. "So you're saying you can do all this?"

"Only during times of convergence with a willing partner.

"Convergence?" Jax concluded what they needed from him and laughed. "You and me? No, this is crazy."

"No, Jax, this is your chance to right the wrong that was done to you," Caitlin frowned at his careless reaction.

"Yeah, sorry, you got the wrong guy," Jax made a signal he was going to leave. "I don't want nothing to do with this."

Caitlin wasn't going to give up and cut him off. "Wait a second, we are giving you the chance to be a superhero, and you're gonna say no that quickly?"

"Yeah, not my kind of thing," Jax said.

Stein began pushing himself upwards from his chair "If the man isn't willing to participate-"

"Look, I saw your test scores, Jax. Your grades were good enough to get into college, but you didn't go," Caitlin continued on, sounding angrier. "Why? Is this the type of guy you are? One setback and you fold? Well, then maybe you're not the guy for us anyway."

"Caitlin-" Belén meant to stop her but the damage was done.

"Well, maybe I'm not," Jax sourly agreed and stormed out.

"Maybe this just wasn't meant to be," Stein exceptionally walked out as well.

"Caitlin you shouldn't have done that," Belén got up her chair, earning a very sharp look from the brunette in return.

"He said no to being a superhero. Who does that?" Caitlin angrily looked at the others for back up. "I mean, you didn't say no when you had the chance. Cisco, would you?"

Cisco battled through a nervous laugh. "Chance to have superpowers? Sign me up."

"Look, we're asking Jax to change his entire life, to sacrifice what he does have," Barry tried simplifying it for Caitlin, because he thought she'd been a bit hard on Jax too. "I mean, that's not a decision that can be made lightly. It took me a long time to figure out this whole hero thing."

Caitlin still didn't understand. "Exactly, which is why we need someone who wants to do this."

"Where are you going?" Belén watched the woman begin to leave.

"To get Hewitt back. We have to try again," Caitlin said loudly and stormed away.

~0~

Later that day, Barry called in Patty to give her the results of her "shark teeth". As soon as Patty heard the results, she projected grave disappointment.

"Human DNA?" she looked up from the results.

"Yup, definitely not a man-shark. Not even a land shark, Ma'am," Barry laughed but Patty seemed pretty upset.

"Well, thanks for testing it for me," Patty sighed and turned to leave.

"What are you gonna do now?"

Patty stopped and thought for a moment. "I don't know, probably file it under "never gonna happen." I have another case anyway."

"Oh, anything I can help you with?"

"No, no, no, no, Detective said definitely n-not," Patty knew she was being a horrible liar but in her defence she warned Joe she couldn't keep secrets very well. And keeping the newest case that involved apparently the deceased Harrison Wells was a big one.

Barry immediately recognized her off look and worried. "Is everything okay?"

Patty did not make things better by laughing so nervously. "Sure, why?"

"I don't know, you're just acting kind of different…"

"No! No. I'm the same old P. Spivot, you know?" Patty inwardly smacked herself for being so obvious. She needed to leave fast. "I have to go, but thank you so much for testing this, and I'll see you."

Barry couldn't even get an "okay" out when the woman had already rushed out. He decided he would go to Joe himself for some answers. Why wouldn't Joe want him working on a case with them? It wasn't like him.

As Barry was coming down the stairs, he caught sight of Veronica coming out of the main office. Thinking of their oh-so-grand meeting the previous day, Barry thought he would try it again with some better results. He knew Belén was right in that Veronica didn't know him and perhaps they just needed time but it did bother him that this woman decided - out of the blue - that she wouldn't like him.

"Ms. Green?" he called to the woman engrossed with a file in her hands. Soon as she looked up Barry could see her eyes narrow a bit. "Everything...okay?" That was a stupid question but Barry couldn't think of another way to start.

"Of course. I just finished with papers for my transfer. I start this Monday," Veronica informed.

"That's great! I guess we'll be seeing each other more often then," Barry smiled but Veronica just stared.

"Yes…" Veronica didn't have to openly say that she wasn't as thrilled as one would think.

Barry saw that and inwardly sighed. "Ms. Green, I just want to say that I'm very happy you and Bells are working on a new relationship."

"Bells?" Veronica repeated her daughter's nickname with distaste.

"U-uh, sorry, Belén. That's just...what we call her sometimes…" Barry said slowly, seeing no such progress. Veronica still did not lighten up. "Anyways, I just…" he sighed, deciding to simply be honest with how he felt and see what happened from there, "...Belén has suffered a lot, I've seen it, and I think she could really use her mother. She deserves that."

"Yes, well, she deserves _more_ doesn't she?" Veronica openly said instead, jabbing him with her double meaning. Her knowing smile on him didn't make Barry feel any better.

~ 0 ~

"She said that?" Cisco gaped after hearing Barry's story - which was admittedly funny in some point. The two were in the cortex, watching over Axel while Belén went for some coffee in the kitchen of the building. " _Duuuude_ …" Cisco began to chuckle, much to Barry's offence

"Why does everyone think it's so funny?" he frowned. First Joe, and now Cisco? Next thing he knew Iris would burst out laughing next.

"I mean, it _would_ happen to you," Cisco walked over to the desk where Axel sat. He glanced at the boy who was busy attempting to write his name on paper, oblivious to their talk.

"Thanks," Barry frowned. "I get that not everyone is gonna like me but...this precise woman happens to be Belén's mother. She _has_ to like me."

Cisco smirked as he plopped down on a chair next to Axel. "Right."

"I mean, Bells won over my Dad so quick…" Barry began to pace in front of the desk.

"Well, Belén is adorable, so…" Cisco trailed off when Barry glared for his lack of seriousness. "Alright, no time for jokes, then."

"No," Barry shook his head and came to a stop. He put his hands on the edge of the desk and sighed. "I can...see a future with Belén, I really can, and in that future...I don't see _this_ ," he gestured to the situation.

Cisco raised his eyebrows, able to barely to hold his teasing smile back. "Belén Allen?"

"Hey!" Belén had walked in, eyes wide and on Cisco. "I don't know what you were talking about but I know 'shut up' fits perfectly."

Cisco found it even more difficult not to tease. Belén placed down a mug of coffee for Cisco on the desk, handed Barry his own then took her own.

"So, dare I ask what we were discussing?" she made eyes at Barry who was busy trying not to be as red as possible.

"Auntie Belén! Look at my name!" Axel waved his paper in the air, nearly smacking Cisco on the face a couple times.

"Let me see that before you paper cut this beautiful face of mine," Cisco took the paper from the boy and looked down at the squiggly-lined name. "Well, for a four year old, it's not that bad."

"It's my homework," Axel said proudly.

"Great job, Axel," Belén mused after seeing the paper. "Least your name isn't Annah-Belén with a hyphen and everything," she shook her head and shot Barry a look. "You and I know about long names, don't we Bartholomew?"

The speedster silently glowered.

"You guys," Caitlin came rushing into the room seeming very concerned.

"What's wrong?" asked Barry, but Caitlin came directly for the computers. She said nothing as she typed and pulled up a page on the one of the computers up on the wall.

It was a news-reporter in the middle of a newscast, the byline underneath reading something about questioning a Henry Hewitt.

"What's…?" Belén blinked at the screen.

"There was a scene at Mercury Labs where apparently Hewitt showed some sort of metahuman abilities," Caitlin explained, sighing deeply. "He nearly hurt one of his bosses and the witness said he was unusually aggressive."

"But...he has powers now?" Belén looked at the others for some help understanding that.

"Hewitt's dormant abilities must have been triggered when we attempted the merger," Barry realized.

"And that could be catastrophic," Caitlin crossed her arms. "If his powers are anything like professor Stein's then he requires a grounding mechanism to stabilize his volatility."

"Yeah, he's gonna pop his top," Cisco scoffed, wondering if he hadn't done it on his own already. The man seemed to carry a temper with him anyways. "And considering he's got a long history of violence - according to his police record - we probably don't have much time."

"Police record?" Barry threw a look over to Caitlin.

"I didn't find a police record," the brunette said defensibly.

Cisco scoffed. "Yeah, of course not, it was sealed, but guess what, ya boy hacked in and-" he started on the computer, "-hold on, wait for it."

"Yowzah," Belén's eyes roamed the heavy police record Cisco pulled up for them.

"One count battery, two counts aggravated assault, court-ordered anger management therapy," Cisco listed.

"He seemed like such a nice guy," Caitlin said dejectedly.

"Looks are deceiving," Belén remarked.

"Professor Stein is getting worse. And Hewitt's like this because of me. And now Jefferson Jackson will never come back because of what I said," Caitlin felt completely guilty for the mess she thought she was responsible for. "I just didn't believe that he has what it takes."

"This isn't because you didn't believe in him," Barry made her stop for a moment. "Sometimes, great possibilities are right in front of us, and we don't see them, because we choose not to. I think that we need to be open to exploring something new."

Caitlin valued his words, she did, and nodded her head. "I'm gonna go fix it," she mumbled and turned to leave.

"We have to keep an eye on professor Stein," Cisco got up from his chair. "Time is running out."

"Yeah," Belén moved over for Axel. "We'll be back later, then. I promised my mother I would show her my new place. Which reminds me…" she started smiling at Barry, with purpose, "...I know I said no speed for moving out, but...considering I'm a bit behind…"

"I got it," Barry nodded, promising her. "I'll go in later tonight, don't worry."

"Thank you," Belén ushered Axel off his chair and the two walked off.

"So...we're just not gonna tell her that her mothers hates you?" Cisco curiously looked after Belén.

"No," Barry replied instantly. With a warning finger for Cisco to keep quiet as well, he walked out too.

~ 0 ~

As soon as Belén had gotten word from her mother she was waiting for her back in their old home, Belén did her best to get there on time. If there was one thing her mother despised it was tardiness.

"My toys!?" Axel gasped the moment he saw various boxes already piling up around the living room. "Auntie Belén, are my toys in there!?"

"Don't worry Axel, your things are in your room," Belén assured as she closed the door. "Mom?" she called, leaving her purse on a stand by table.

Veronica walked out from the kitchen with a glass of water in her hand. Axel was delighted to see his grandmother and ran forwards to hug her. "Grandma, wanna play with my toys with me?" he asked excitedly.

"Not right now, sweetheart," Veronica smiled at him, speaking a soft voice. Belén honestly couldn't see that version of her mother as, well..her _mother_. It was always arguments and bickering with the others.

"Aaaw," Axel pulled back and turned away.

"Axel, go on out to the backyard for a moment," Belén instructed the child.

"Okay!"

"But stay away from Aunt Belén's flowers, alright?"

"Yes!" Axel promised and rushed for the back door.

"So you've been packing…" Veronica lowered her glass to observe the room. "I checked upstairs and...you're almost completely packed too."

"Yeah," Belén shrugged. "I want to get out of here as fast as possible."

"You know I'm not kicking you out-"

"No, yeah, I know that," Belén promised her. "I just…" her eyes began to look around the familiar living room, "...don't like being here anymore. There's too many bad things, memories...I can't continue living here if I want to function normally."

"You're almost set then," Veronica gestured to the packing boxes behind them. "I'm surprised you packed so fast."

"I had help from Barry, Mom," Belén rolled her eyes.

"Oh," Veronica could not help the face expression that settled.

Belén saw it too and frowned. "Oh c'mon, are you actually not liking him? Barry mentioned it but I just thought he was being dramatic."

"He told you that?" it appeared Veronica was offended and yet, upset that apparently Barry had disclosed this information.

"Well gee, Mom, considering I'm his girlfriend and he just met my Mom who created such a negative image of him...yeah, he did mention it because he was upset."

Veronica made a small noise and shook her head. She brought her glass to her lips and drank.

"Can I just ask what is the problem?" Belén sighed, so completely done with arguments between them. "You know nothing of me, and then you have the audacity to hate my boyfriend whom you've never even properly met."

"The last time I heard he broke up with you in a very harsh way," Veronica tilted her glass, pretending to be interested in the swirling water. "And that left you so bad you decided to go to a psychologist."

"Hey-" Belén struck a sharp finger at her mother, "-that was because of Maritza, Axel, Rayan, and the frikin black-hole that appeared in the sky as well! I decided to go to Dr. Baeva for _me_. I decided I wanted to feel better, to _be_ better so I went for professional help."

"Belén-"

"No, Mom, you're being unfair," Belén said softly. "I bet grandma and grandpa were against at least one of your boyfriends when you were my age. And how about Nona Enger? Remember how that feels?"

Veronica's lips twitched into a smile. "Your father's mother was an outright..." she definitely wouldn't finish that sentence out loud.

"Can't you at least give him a chance?" Belén asked. "One dinner - that's all I'm asking. You can get to know Barry and see that he's really sweet and...and dorky, I'm not gonna lie," she smiled. "But overall he is someone that I can truly think about having a future with."

Veronica's attention was drawn most by the last statement. "That much, huh?" she asked with eyebrows raised.

Belén nodded. "Yes."

Veronica gave a small nod as she thought about the deal proposed. "Okay-" Belén's eyes widened, "-I accept. One dinner-" she raised a finger, "-this weekend."

The biggest smile spread across Belén's face. "Oh my God, thank you!" she rushed up to Veronica and surprised her with a large hug.

Belén rarely hugged her.

~ 0 ~

By the time Belén returned to STAR Labs, much had happened. But it was to her delight to learn that Jax had come through and merged successfully with professor Stein, creating a new Firestorm. Unfortunately, she also learned that Henry Hewitt was up and about again attacking people. Barry and the new Firestorm had gone out to stop him.

"You sure Jax can handle this?" Belén anxiously stood behind Caitlin and Cisco at the desk. "He did just get his powers…"

"He has this," Caitlin assured with a new sense of faith in Jax.

"Plus, he has professor Stein in his head," Cisco added with a wag of his finger.

Belén agreed it was true but it still didn't diminish all her concerns.

"Hey, guys, cutting the power didn't work," Barry's voice came through the speakers. "It's like the more we anger him, the stronger he gets."

"Powers based on emotions? Hm," Belén pretended to think for a moment, "Now where have I seen that before."

"That's it," Caitlin realized. "The more powerful he becomes, the more unstable they become. Barry, make him angry, and he'll blow his fuse."

"Are you saying that I'm unstable?" Belén shot the brunette a look.

Caitlin made an apologetic face.

"Don't worry, we'll get her back when you can go full-on Azalea again," Cisco nudged Belén on the side. "Imagine what new sides you can unlock."

When all was said and done, Henry Hewitt was brought back to STAR Labs and placed in the pipeline where he would not be able to tell a soul of what he learned in the recent week. It appeared like his powers had diminished with his last fight. Now as the new firestorm prepared to leave to begin training again, the group went on to say their goodbyes.

"Why Are we going to Pittsburgh again?" asked Jax after hearing Stein mention it to Joe.

"A colleague of mine was monumental in helping train Ronald and me. She's graciously offered to help the two of us as well."

"How's she gonna help us?"

"Well, there were many aspects of our abilities that we never quite achieved. Hopefully now, we can fully realize that potential." Stein said hopefully and turned to say goodbye to Caitlin. "Oh, my dearest Dr. Snow. Ronald may be lost to us, but he will never be forgotten."

Caitlin hugged him goodbye.

"Okay but when you start flying...take a picture dammit," Belén told Jax, making him laugh. "I mean it. That view would be phenomenal."

"I think they'd have more to do, Bells," Barry came by for her.

"I was just saying...you know, if you got a chance," Belén casually waved her hand on her side.

Cisco approached them with the splicer in hand, excitedly apparently. "I went ahead and recalibrated the splicer so the merging should be even smoother now."

"Are you ready, Jefferson?" Stein asked the younger man. With a nod, Jax moved over so that the two would merge better.

"All right," Jax said after merging, still sounding surprised of his new ability. He erupted in flames and flew up into the sky.

"I really want that picture," Belén mumbled under her breath.

"Yeah c'mon," Barry tugged her by the hand. "You want to get lunch?"

"Mhm! So I can tell you the big news I have," Belén excitedly revealed.

"Interesting," Barry hummed in thought. He said a goodbye to the others and took off with Belén for Jitters.

"So, I talked to my Mom," Belén began as soon as they entered the place.

"You did…?" Barry made a face behind her.

"Yes, and I don't want you to freak out or anything but...she doesn't exactly favor you."

"No?" Barry feigned perfect surprise. "I wasn't dreaming?"

Belén sighed. "Nope. But I got her to give you a chance. You think you can do dinner with her and me this weekend?" there was a heavy alarm in Barry's face that questioned the sanity of the plan. Belén clapped her hands together, ready to plead. "I promise it will be just fine. You just have...to be yourself."

"I don't mean to be rude but I think 'being myself' is what got me into this situation in the first place," Barry released a breath he'd been holding in.

"She doesn't know you," Belén persisted. "She knows a part of you that...that wasn't you. Please say you'll do it? Pretty please?"

"Oh, sure, use that face on me, how can I refuse?" Barry sarcastically said.

"So...you'll come then?"

"Yes, of course I will," Barry nodded. "But you have to do one thing in return."

"What is it?"

"Don't leave me alone with her," Barry pleaded with a shaking voice.

Belén laughed but agreed nonetheless. Throughout the rest of their lunch, which turned out to last much later, Belén started giving Barry helpful tips for when they met with Veronica later that weekend. While Belén was confident that her mother would end up liking Barry she also thought that a little help couldn't hurt either. When they were finished, the two arrived at the CCPD for different reasons. Belén promised Patty they would have that pending coffee night - which switched to a movie night considering Belén had just come back from Jitters. Barry had a bit of work to finish before he could call it a night.

"So, any movie you're interested in seeing?" Belén asked Patty as the two walked out of the station.

"Something actiony?" Patty suggested and Belén just laughed.

"A cop wants to watch an action movie I'm not surprised!"

But the two had barely made it across the street when a loud clash stopped them in their tracks. Green vines had wrapped around trash cans and threw them towards the two women. They lunged in opposite directions to avoid being hit. Soon as Belén looked up she saw a woman in a glimmering green bodysuit and long ginger hair coming for her. There were bits of green plants adorning the corner of her eyes.

"What are you-"

The ginger made a wag of her finger and struck forwards a hand. Belén was hit with a thick vine tendril and blasted back against a street pole, effectively knocking her out.

"Oh my God!" Patty didn't waste a minute and whipped out her gun, taking aim at the ginger who was coming for them. "Put your hands in the air!"

But the ginger smirked and reached a hand out, making Patty begin to shoot. Poison Ivy swiveled with her vines to avoid the bullets successfully. Hearing the bullets, Barry appeared as the Flash to see what the trouble was and came to the horror sight instead.

"Flash," Poison Ivy's lips curled into a delighted smile. "Zoom wants you dead. But for now I'm here to collect for Datura."

"Over my dead body," Barry frowned. He sped Patty and Belén into the station and then returned. Poison Ivy had yet to even blink.

"Don't make me hunt my prey at this hour," Poison Ivy's darkened red lips curled into a sinister smile.

"Why are you hunting her in the first place?" demanded Barry.

"For Datura, of course," Poison Ivy held her hands out, ready to attack when someone blasted her with a high-tech gun. She cringed and fell forwards to reveal a hooded man.

The hooded figure made to leave just as he'd appeared but Barry sped after him. "Who the hell are you?" he grew tired of asking the same questions.

When the hooded man pulled down his hood, Barry wished he would have never asked.

The man turned out to be Harrison Wells.

From afar, the same brunette women who had watched Belén now watched the scene unfold with satisfaction. "Here we go," she glanced in the direction of the precinct with flashing red eyes.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Aaaaand we're started getting into the good parts! We finally get to meet Poison Ivy (whom I literally envision as Uma Thurman's Poison Ivy) and we'll soon get to meet Datura herself.

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	5. Three Words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belén and her mother are somewhat closer but there's still one thing neither can settle on: Barry Allen. Veronica does not want her daughter involved with him and Belén just won't give up trying to bring them closer. Barry will do just about anything for Belén but when it comes to Veronica Green...he might just snap.

**Earth 2, Central City**.

Datura was a well known thief and murderer on Earth 2. Her city of preference? Central City. And she wasn't just any random metahuman: she was one of the lucky metahumans chosen by Zoom to be part of his crew. Not only that, she was his preferred choice of weapon. Whenever there was a metahuman who needed to be reminded of their place, Datura was called upon. Her siphoning powers were a threat to anyone looking for trouble.

So, for Datura to start making fewer and fewer appearances in the city was noteworthy by other metahumans and even the humans.

" _Where is she? Is she coming to get us? Is she hiding?_ " a woman's mocking voice filled the space of a greenhouse. She waved one gloved finger side to side that manipulated a brilliant red flower on a plot. The flower bloomed and closed then grew and shrunk. "These metas are delusional if they think I won't come for them if they screw up."

Poison Ivy walked into the greenhouse and heard her partner's self talk. She smirked. "Oh, you wouldn't be missing them, would you? Who of all? Killer Frost, maybe? No, wait, Reverb?"

Datura straightened on her feet and turned to face her partner. "That icy bitch is only looking to take my place at the top of the food chain. Reverb is eating out of my palms even more now."

Poison Ivy set her hands on her hips. "Don't worry about them, worry about yourself. the plan worked. Wells is with the team right now on Earth 1, and I'm sure he's going to do everything he can to get their trust." A mild laugh slipped through her lips. "Not like he had much of a choice."

Datura brought her hand to the red flower pinned on her hair. It was a datura and it was probably the most lively, brilliant flower in that greenhouse. Its dark scarlet shade contrasted with her dark brunette hair, which was primp and hanging in loose curls over her chest. Her chocolate brown eyes darted to the side while she thought about Harrison Wells. "Having your daughter kidnapped is quite the motivation. My only thing is that I am impatient."

Poison Ivy knew that well. She walked towards Datura, only leaving a small space between them while she shot Datura a warning look. "But you will control that, right?"

"Sure," Datura pushed past Poison Ivy and made a leave to anywhere but there.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin and Cisco were battling the urge not to attempt to throw Earth 2's version of Harrison Wells into their pipeline. The man, brought in by Barry after their run-in the previous night, was skimming a couple pages of the autobiography of his E-1's doppleganger in such a casual manner.

"Very strange to be holding your autobiography, especially when you didn't write it and it's not about you," he remarked after a moment, his blue eyes raising to see the two staring scientists.

"It's not possible," Caitlin continue to say as if it would make the man pop out of existence.

"I thought Barry explained already?" Wells snapped shut the book in his hands and meant to place it on a nearby table but instead saw that both Caitlin and Cisco retracted one large step away from him. "I already told you that-"

"No, let me get this straight," Cisco waved a hand for him to stop. "You're the doppelganger of the man who murdered Barry's mom and Belén's father and is responsible for both Ronnie and Eddie's deaths?"

Caitlin tilted her head as she considered how true this was. "Yeah, but he's not even the doppelganger of the Dr. Wells that we knew because that Dr. Wells' body had been taken over by the Reverse Flash, who was really Eobard Thawne and Eddie's distant relative from the future."

Wells didn't even try to keep up with any of that. "Yeah, I didn't follow any of that. I'm my own man. I had nothing to do with the murder of your friend's mother or your friend Ricky."

"His name was Ronnie," Caitlin frowned.

"Him either."

"Belén, calm down-" they began to hear Barry's voice along with Belén's voice carrying in from the entrance.

"No! I have to see if it's the truth!" the other metahuman was shouting back.

"But you have to rest-"

"If I hear one more person saying that-" Belén strode into the room with purpose until she saw Wells standing there.

Barry walked in after her, anxiously looking from her to Wells. After last night, she had been cared for by her mother and had only recently learned that there was another version of Wells - who apparently was good - lurking on the same world.

"It's... _you_ …" she said quietly.

"Yes," Wells grew tired of confirming.

"You murdered my Dad," the words tumbled out of Belén's mouth on instinct.

" _No_ , I didn't," Wells rolled his eyes. He was getting sick of being accused of crimes he hadn't committed.

Belén had lost her initial hatred and was once again reminded of her losses. "You should... _not_ be here…"

Barry slipped an arm around her when he saw her getting more upset. He knew this would happen and was part of the reason he advised her to just stay away from STAR Labs until she was well rested.

"You told me you have proof of your identity?" he asked of Wells, hoping to change subjects at least for a moment.

Wells reached into the black sling backpack and pulled out Professor Stein's old monitor device he had thrown into the breech a couple days ago. "This almost hit me when I went through the portal. Your stabilized breach downstairs connects directly to the S.T.A.R. Labs on my Earth."

Caitlin saw her device and moved over to take it from him. "Technically, this could be mine, but I want to run some tests on you."

"I'll be genetically indistinguishable from my Earth-1 counterpart. Your tests will reveal nothing."

"Great! Still gonna run 'em."

"Why are we even listening to him?" Cisco asked out loud, not caring if Wells heard. "How do we know he's not evil like the other guy?"

"He took down that metahuman last night that nearly killed Belén," Barry explained. "Question is why."

"For Datura," Belén explained quietly. "That woman was Poison Ivy. Jay talked about her, remember? She and Datura are thick as thieves and if Datura sent Poison Ivy after me-"

"-you're next," Harry bluntly finished for her and missed the heavy glares of disapproval of the others.

Belén did her best to make it seem like his words hadn't affected her, but that was a lost battle before it even got started. She did a quick glance around the room to see the reactions of the others, and when she saw sympathy - which she mistook for pity - she made a quick excuse that she was going to train instead.

Wells knew exactly what his words caused and he had to stick by them. He would do anything if it meant keeping his daughter safe. If it meant he would be on Earth 1 under the guise as a helper to the team then so be it.

~0~

A heavy vine struck a life size cutout of Shawna Baez and cut it in half. There was no rest between that cutout and the next because Belén had twisted her body to throw a second, probably heavier, vine striking the second cutout through the chest. She yanked her vine back and broke the cutout with the second blow.

"Belén?" Barry nearly yelped a second later when Belén turned with a threatening vine directed his way. He may or may not have ducked halfway too.

Seeing him pulled Belén out of her training mode. The emerald green scales on her skin faded within seconds until she was herself again. "Sorry," she released a tired breath.

"I'm good. And by the looks of those cutouts so are you," Barry took a good look around and saw that most of the cutouts meant for target practice were in pieces. "Cisco's not going to be so happy, though."

A small smile came to Belén when she thought of Cisco's reaction seeing all his cutouts destroyed. "He can update. Maybe add in Datura and Poison Ivy for me. I think that's the only way I'll see them down."

"Don't say that," Barry's warning was answered with a scoff.

"They got me in one go, Barry. That's just embarrassing," she walked towards the table set for their equipment and picked up a water bottle. "I haven't been out in a while, I've lost my game. And now Poison Ivy knows that, which means Datura will too."

"I think you're putting too much thought in this," Barry sighed seeing her so worked up and even more stressed. Granted he felt the same towards Zoom but he did feel some comfort knowing that there was Jay to help him out training wise. After all, Jay had already fought Zoom which meant he would have a good idea of Zoom's tactics.

Belén took a big drink out of her water bottle then responded, "Am I? Because I think I'm giving it a pretty decent amount of thought. Poison Ivy kicked my ass in two seconds-flat. That can't happen again. And it _won't_ ," she moved around him and headed back for the training area.

"Belén, Bel - c'mon," Barry turned after her. "It's not a good idea to train when you have all this on your mind. Datura, Poison Ivy, Wells-"

Belén pointed a warning finger at him to stop right there. "I'm not having that discussion about Wells. That man-"

"Is not the Dr. Wells we know," Barry tried to explain as best as possible.

"How do we know that!? I mean, the Dr. Wells from this world waited 15 years to show his real face," Belén argued logically. "Imagine what this one will do?"

"I'm trying to give him the benefit of the doubt and-"

" _How_!?" Belén exclaimed. "How can you even look at him?"

Without thinking, Barry raised his voice and answered back in a half-shout. "You think this is easy for me? The guy looks, moves, sounds exactly like the guy that drove a knife through my mother's heart. I have to resist the urge to kill him. I'm trying my best to get past that, okay?"

Belén's anger faltered almost instantly. She had been too caught up in her feelings to remember what Barry was probably going through as well. "I'm sorry," she said after a moment, eyes lowering.

Barry sighed, feeling guilty he'd gone off on her like that. "No, I'm sorry. I just...maybe, he's like Jay, you know? Maybe he really is here to help and right now I will take what I can get. He says he wants to help us. He's responsible for metahumans on Earth 2."

"Great, so he created Zoom and Datura. Yeah, he _should_ be helping then," Belén shook her head.

"So he probably knows them better than Jay. We can use that to our advantage and save ourselves."

Belén considered that a deep advantage she sure wouldn't want to lose. "Fine. He gets one chance-" she raised an index finger, "-but if he ruins it I'll show him who's really the top Poison plant metahuman."

Barry laughed while she continued to spew out more threats. "Alright then, point made."

Belén was about to go back to training when she heard her phone buzzing on the table. She came back to check on it and saw it was a text from her mother. "That's my Mom. She's confirming if we're still having dinner with her tomorrow."

"Absolutely," Barry smiled widely even though on the inside he was feeling more scared than when he faced metahumans.

As Belén texted back the confirmation, she received another text but from Cisco. He'd gotten another vision that showed another breacher at the city's bank. Without much detail, she alerted Barry by using a little white lie of a reason how she knew this from Cisco. She also convinced him to go on with out her because...

"I want my comeback to be big, and I want it to be facing Poison Ivy or Datura."

"Be careful what you wish for," Barry warned, dropping a kiss on her lips before speeding off.

"Yeah," Belén drew in a breath with worry. Her mind kept replaying that horrible scene of Poison Ivy knocking her out. _I **have** to be better_, she repeated to herself.

~0~

"You just shouldn't keep them a secret," Belén said first and foremost after catching Cisco coming into the building. "I know what I'm telling you."

They were now walking for the cortex after getting word from Barry he was back and without the breacher.

"I'm working on it, Bells," Cisco meant to promise but Belén knew better than to believe it.

"So I look that big of an idiot?" she scoffed. "You're scared, you don't like powers so you're just gonna keep them hidden. Sounds familiar, honestly."

"I'm not like you!" Cisco blurted and immediately regretted it. "I-I did not mean it like that-"

"It's fine, Cisco," Belén assured. "Maybe I over made my point. I just...I want you to understand that keeping your powers a secret, trying to push them away, isn't good."

Cisco acknowledged her good intentions with a nod of his head. The two entered the cortex where Barry was already explaining to Wells - or Harry, as Cisco had dubbed him - about the metahuman he'd met earlier.

"So who's this metahuman that outsmarted you?" Belén teased, earning herself a mock-glare from Barry in return.

"Her name is Doctor Light," Harry responded after taking a bite of his fries. "Small-time thief on my Earth until exposure to the dark matter from the Particle Accelerator and became a meta-human with the ability to derive power from starlight."

"Oh, very cool," Cisco said with eyebrows raised.

"Stars having a temperature of 5,300 degree kelvin and a blinding luminosity, I would say, 'Not very cool at all.'"

Cisco frowned at him. "You know, our Dr. Wells may have been evil, but you're just a dick."

"Okay, so obviously, Zoom brought her here from your Earth like the others," Barry said before the two got into an actual argument.

"Mm-hmm. Now that we know that, we can use that to gain advantage," Harry turned for the desk to retrieve his soda drink.

"How do you mean?" Belén asked, crossing her arms.

"We capture Doctor Light and use her to lure Zoom here."

At the same time, Jay came in - or stormed into - the cortex looking pretty angry. "You are insane!" he started shouting, apparently for Wells. "Okay, we are not luring Zoom anywhere!"

Caitlin scurried in after Jay, making way for her friends. "Apparently, they know each other, and Jay is not a fan."

"Think we got the message," Belén's eyes flickered from Harry and Jay anxiously.

Harry was truly surprised by Jay's presence. Neither Datura - or Poison Ivy - for that matter, had told him this was where their version of the Flash had gone off to. "Well, well, well. Like everyone else, I assumed Earth-2 Flash was dead. Why am I not surprised to find Jay Garrick here, still alive and in hiding a full universe away from Zoom?"

"I'm not in hiding," Jay scowled. "Zoom nearly killed me and had Datura siphon my speed before the Singularity pulled me here!"

Harry raised an eyebrow, apparently amused by the story. "Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Well, whatever the case, in your absence, Zoom has only gotten more powerful, faster. Barry, you have to defeat Zoom now while you still can."

Barry barely opened his mouth when Jay spoke again. "No, this isn't the time to be reckless. We don't even know why Zoom sent Doctor Light here. She's a thief, not a killer."

"Zoom can make people do things out of character!" Harry nearly shouted. He felt that really drove things home for himself considering the true reason he was there. He glanced at Barry. "Thief or not, she'll kill you."

"All right, look, hey, we can decide what to do with Light later," Barry spoke over the two. "First, we have to find her, okay?"

Harry made an almost triumphant smile as he grabbed his soda off the desk and purposely - probably - took loud slurps.

"Cisco, did you get any information off her?" Barry asked, startling Cisco. "You were here earlier, did you get anything from the security feed?"

"No, he wasn't," Harry said before Cisco could.

"Shut up, yes he was," Belén said rather fast, earning herself three different looks from them. "Cisco, you were here when Dr. Light attacked, remember?"

Cisco quickly understood it was the excuse she had used to get Barry to go after Dr. Light and hurried to make it work. "Oh, right! Um, I didn't get anything-" he looked at the confused Barry, "-but I think I can get the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite to scan for any irregular solar radiation emissions to find Doctor Light's light."

That seemed to pacify Barry's confusion, but not Harry's suspicions.

"Okay, I'm gonna also call Joe, see if CCPD has any leads. Why don't we keep them apart until I get back?" Barry gestured to the two E-2 men behind them.

"I am sure that won't be a problem," Caitlin mumbled.

"I gotta go finish packing," Belén sighed, thinking it was best to finally get that out of the way. It didn't look like she would be of much help anyways. "Think you can handle those two?" she asked Caitlin.

"Oh, I think I can," the brunette nodded with much certainty.

"Think you can give me a lift, then?" Belén looked to Barry with a sheepish smile.

"C'mon," he reached for her hand to lead her out. She giggled as he waved goodbye to the others.

"Are you helping me today?" she asked once he had brought her back to her place.

"Not right now, I have to finish some work," he regretted to say. He would much rather spend some time with her - which hadn't been as easy to do lately - than go to work. "But I promise you I will make some time to help you."

"Good," Belén wagged a finger at him. "Because I'm having furniture being moved to my apartment and I could really use an opinion of where it should go."

"Oh, so you don't want me to move it?"

"Mm...don't take offence, but...I don't think you could handle it."

"Oh," Barry made a face. "Well then…"

"That sounded mean," Belén closed her eyes.

"No, no...I mean, first of all you say that I can't be 'dangerous-"

"Are we really going to do that again?"

"I'm just repeating what you're saying-"

"Barry, c'mon!"

"No, no," Barry moved around her, feigning utter offence. "I guess I'll just go to my job...be a nerd, whatever…"

Belén playfully rolled her eyes. "Are we really-"

"It's fine," Barry repeated with a dramatic sigh afterwards.

"Barry? Can we not-"

"I'll see you later, Bells," he waved goodbye and sped off.

Belén couldn't help but laugh. "What a dork," she said to herself and turned to go into the house behind.

~ 0 ~

The next day, Dr. Light made a promptly appearance in the city again. This time, she was hitting the richer parts of a bank: a prime vault. Barry was alerted and hurried to catch her. Dr. Light was not surprised to find the Flash there again.

"I know Zoom sent you here to kill me," Barry stepped towards her but eyed her glowing hands. "Good news, you don't have to do that."

Dr. Light gave a tight smile. "Not if I can get out of town with the cash."

"And then what? Zoom's not gonna like that you ditched him, right? My friends and I can help you."

"Nobody can protect me from Zoom!" Dr. Light's voice suddenly shook. "He gets what he wants, and what he wants is you dead."

"I've heard," Barry nodded.

"And if I don't kill you, he'll kill me or have my powers siphoned. I'm not looking for either to happen." Dr. Light's hands glowed even more powerfully, forcing Barry to close his eyes for a moment.

"All right, why don't we take it down a lumen, have a normal conversation, all right? We're aware of the problems...but we can help. Please?"

Light sighed, but taking a chance she did as told. She made her helmet's visor rise to reveal her true identity…

"Linda? Linda Park?" Barry said without realizing.

Earth 2's version of Linda seemed even more scared than before. "How do you know my name?"

"I don't understand…"

"This was a mistake." Linda lowered her visor and used her powers, a blinding light that brought Barry to his knees, to make her escape.

"Barry, what's happening?" Cisco's voice rang through Barry's earpod after a deadly silence.

Barry opened his eyes to see nothing but blurriness. "I can't see. Guys, I can't see!"

~ 0 ~

Caitlin flashed a red light across Barry's eyes to give him a final conclusion of his sight.

"I still can't see," Barry impatiently waited for his quick healing powers to kick in. All he saw was fuzziness. "How long is this gonna last?"

Caitlin retracted the light and sighed. "You're suffering from solar retinopathy. Your retinas are severely damaged. You're lucky you're not permanently blind."

"But with your rapid regeneration abilities, your sight should return soon," Jay threw in to keep the metahuman calm.

"6.25 hours by my estimation," Harry clarified. Jay glared but this time said nothing. "All this could have been avoided if you just stopped Light instead of chitchatting with her."

"She caught Barry off guard," Jay argued but it wasn't enough.

"Always an excuse with you, right? He's the fastest man alive. How could she possibly do that?"

"Because Light looks exactly like my friend, Linda Park," Barry revealed, freezing both Caitlin and Cisco with the news.

"That's why Zoom sent her... because he knew you'd hesitate," Harry was quick to point out.

"That means Zoom had to have known somehow that Linda was your friend," Cisco got to thinking. It meant Zoom knew a lot more about them than they thought.

"Which is why Barry has to act now, before Zoom sends another double from Barry's life," Harry added. He wondered how easy it would be for either Zoom or Datura to defeat their doppelgangers is this was how they reacted to meeting someone they knew.

"All right, right now, I'm more worried about Linda," Barry said before anyone else could add something more. "When I saw who was under the mask, I said her name. What if Light didn't even realize that she had a doppelganger here until I accidentally told her?"

"The first thing that Atom Smasher did when he crossed the breach was to kill his doppelganger," Cisco remembered.

"Yeah, but Light's not like Atom Smasher," Jay insisted.

"We should keep an eye on your Linda," Harry advised.

"All right, I'll go," Barry got up fast and bumped into Caitlin who was returning.

"Oh!" the brunette woman stumbled back.

"Sorry," Barry apologized and somehow turned to leave the side room. In his attempt, he crashed into the threshold.

"Barry!" Jay hurried to help him out before he truly hurt himself again. "Okay, okay. You can't do anything until your sight returns." He brought Barry towards the desk. "C'mon, here's the little rail here." Barry was unhappy as his hands were forced to hold the rail of the desk. "I'll do it."

"I'll go with you!" Caitlin volunteered and followed after him.

At the same time, Iris rushed in. "Hey, Barry! I came as soon as I heard…" she made it only two steps in when she saw Harry. "You look just like him!"

Harry had become accustomed to these sorts of greetings and merely asked from Cisco beside, "I'm guessing my counterpart did something to offend her as well?"

"Her fiancé died because of him."

"Oh," Harry made a face but clearly was not at all interested in hearing more. He walked away without another word.

"Iris, I know it's weird seeing him…" Barry began to speak, hoping to talk her out of any concerns she was having.

"Yeah, it's just a lot to process lately. Wells, my mother..."

"How are you doing with that, by the way?"

"I mean, now that she's gone, okay," Iris answered honestly. She was thankful that Belén had urged her to research on her mother because of she hadn't then Iris would've never figured out what Francine was hiding.

"Yeah, Iris, um, look. You know you can talk to me about it-"

"Yeah, I know, but really, I'm fine, okay? I should be asking how you're doing."

"I'm gonna get out there now," Belén walked in seeming mighty upset.

"Uh oh, that's her mad voice," Iris chuckled.

"I don't know who this breacher thinks she is-"

"Linda Park, actually," Barry answered for her, cutting her off.

"What?" she blinked. She walked over to him and Iris, settling a hand on his arm to let him know where she was.

"Dr. Light turned out to be Linda's doppleganger. It's why she caught me off guard."

"It's gonna make it a lot more difficult to punch her…" Belén murmured.

"Bells, I'm fine, just...a little in the dark-"

"That's not funny," went both Belén and Iris.

Belén heard her phone ring once and dug inside her purse to see who it was. "Oh," she said once she opened the text from her mother.

"What's wrong?" Barry asked, detecting her suddenly change demeanor.

"It's just…" Belén felt bad reminding him, "...we were supposed to have dinner with my Mom today, remember?"

"Oh my God," Barry closed his eyes. Of course he remembered _now_. This really would happen today of all days.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna tell her it's not happening today-"

Barry re-opened his eyes and wildly gestured her not to. "Don't!"

"Barry, you can't see!"

"Hey, your Mom is big on first impressions and I already ruined mine six months ago. I'm not doing it again."

"You can't see, it's gonna be difficult for you and-"

"-I'll make it work," Barry insisted. "I have to."

"Why put yourself through that?" Belén made a face of confusion.

"Because I lo-" Barry had abruptly stopped when he realized what he was going to say, and how it had nearly been an _instinct_ to say it. _When did **that** happen? _Barry wasn't sure how to answer that.

Behind him, Iris held her laugh so well she was proud of herself. She was an inch away from teasing him because she knew exactly what he'd nearly said.

"Barry? You what?" Belén still waited to finish his sentence. She, on the other hand, had too much to think about to even suspect what just happened. All she was thinking about now was the fact Barry would have to suck it up for her mother's sake, or she would have the pleasure of telling her mother they wouldn't be able to make it to dinner. Either way was a lose for her.

Barry knew that _this_ precise moment was _not_ the one he wanted to say what he almost did. It needed to be better. He searched for Belén, and when she saw she reached to give him her hands. "We can make it work, I'll just need your help."

"What can I do?" Belén asked, ready to help if he truly wanted to go through with it. A part of her made her feel special that he was going to go through the trouble just for her.

~0~

Veronica Green was already waiting for her daughter and Barry when the two metahumans walked into the restaurant. Belén spotted her mother the moment the two entered the place and described to Barry how the place was set up. She was walking him with linked arms so he wouldn't fall or bump into anyone. Just to hide his eyes, he wore a pair of sunglasses he hoped would come out as casual.

"Okay, the table's set beside a glass window. It's sunset, and my Mom is sitting across," Belén explained with as much detail as she could. "She could be mad but that's just her face in general." Barry chuckled. "I'm serious."

"Relax," Barry rubbed his hand over hers. "I'm not messing it up, I promise."

"I'm actually not that worried over you," Belén admitted as she saw her mother already eyeing the menu with a bit of distaste. "My Mom's difficult, and...and she makes things difficult."

"I think you're more nervous than I am, Bells," Barry said, not needing to see to know that one. Belén's laughter carried with them until they reached their table.

"You're late," was the first thing Veronica said to them both.

"There was traffic," Belén excused themselves. "Are you going to get mad about that?" In the meanwhile, she discreetly moved Barry's hand for him to feel the chair that was meant to be his. With any luck, he wouldn't fall while sitting down.

Veronica knew that was a test to see how truly committed she was to making this dinner work. Before she said something badly, she pushed herself to change the direction. "Well, I do like the choice of restaurant," she mused as she looked around the quiet, calm place.

"Barry actually chose it," Belén gave him a little nudge.

"Yeah, no, um, Joe took Iris and us here for our graduations," he began to explain, really hoping he was looking in the right direction. Seeing as Belén hadn't yet moved him he thought he was doing good so far. "I thought it would be a good choice seeing as how you don't like loud areas."

Veronica's face was an indescribable one. Belén thought there was a twitch of gratitude or...offence? She couldn't understand why it would be the latter considering it was one of the things her mother always argued with them when they were younger - it was always too loud.

"Very right," Veronica finally said something. "It's one of my pet peeves. The only place I can ever get used to it is at work."

"Definitely," Belén said without thinking. Barry smiled but Veronica gave her a scolding look. "What?" Belén asked when she noticed her mother's look. "Is that not true? You just said it was."

"Bells," Barry hoped to find her hand on the table. Belén moved her hand and latched onto it like her life depended on it.

Veronica eyed the movement in silence.

"Ms. Greene, I heard you're officially transferring this Monday?" Barry asked afterwards, hoping to steer any negative attention from Belén at least for a moment. "Have you had a partner assigned?"

"Not yet," Veronica shook her head. "See, there's no one in need of one but Miss Spivot did mention she was only here temporarily so, with time, I will probably become Detective West's partner."

"Patty's only here for a while?" Belén repeated, both she and Barry taking the news with surprise.

"She didn't say anything to me," Barry shrugged. "Course I haven't exactly seen her lately, so..."

"I would imagine with your unexpected leaves and tardiness that could happen," Veronica surprised them even more with that remark.

It certainly took Barry a few seconds to process. "What?"

Veronica sighed, but Belén swore her mother didn't look sorry about anything. "I've only been at the station for 3 days and I already know who's really there for work."

"Mom," Belén frowned at that.

"I _am_ there for work," Barry calmly clarified. "I love my work, actually. I wouldn't be there if I didn't."

"Then why do so many people comment on these unexpected departures?" Veronica challenged. "Tardiness? Someone who cared about their job would be there on time."

Barry knew this was one of the things where he could argue the hell out of it and only get Veronica to hate him even more. He had to correct her, but he couldn't do it in a rude manner. And that _bugged_ him. "Ms. Green, I have worked all my life to be where I am now. Believe me when i say that there is nobody more passionate about their job than me."

"Is that so-"

"Yes. I do it for my mother, for my father. So that their story does not happen to someone else."

Veronica blinked, taken aback by Barry's sudden attitude change. Belén nervously looked from one another, her hand still in Barry's was giving another tight grip.

With a sigh, Barry started again but with that calmness he told himself he needed from the beginning. "I don't know if you know my story-"

" _Oh_ ," Veronica cut him off with a sharp look, and one that Belén was thankful Barry couldn't see, "I _know_."

"Then you know that I was practically left an orphan. I knew the truth and no one believed me because there was no evidence that I could show. So I decided that when I grew up I was going to be that person that _could_ give that evidence for other people. For my case, for another person's case." Barry now knew there was no way in hell he could ever be calm about this. It was something he felt for, and he would not let anyone belittle it.

Veronica seemed to accept this response but wasn't very happy about it either as she brought up her own story. "Same way my daughter was locked up, then?"

Belén shook her head. She could not believe her mother was bringing that up. "Mom-"

"Maritza was guilty and she accepted it," Barry ended up saying first. "There was evidence against her and she knew it. She turned herself in, Ms. Green. I did my job and I'm sorry for how she ended up but at least she came back to the good side. And you know what? Last time I heard, you don't even visit your daughter in jail. On what grounds do you have to be upset about her sentencing when you didn't even show up to her sentencing hearing?"

_Too far, Barry_. He regretted the words he said but at the same time he felt like he had a point. Veronica never went to Maritza's sentencing hearing and yet now she was claiming to be upset over the situation? That was just plain fake.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Veronica deeply scowled, looking indignant she was being spoken to as if she were a child.

"Mom!" Belén exclaimed. This was not going well and she dreaded how it would end.

"I knew this was a mistake," Veronica shook her head, bitterly laughing.

"I'm sorry," Barry apologized. He didn't have to see to know how upset they were making Belén. "I just don't understand what your problems with me are."

"You broke up with my daughter in such an awful way and you ask me that?"

"I will regret that forever, alright?" Barry practically swore. "I made the mistake and I paid for it, believe me."

"And I forgave you," Belén said to him, putting her other hand over their clasped ones. "That's done."

"But I shouldn't have done it," he insisted. "In that, Ms. Green, you are completely right to hate me. _I_ hate me for that. But I think we both know there's something else you don't like about me. We're trained enough to see clues."

Veronica pursed her lips together, deciding if they were really going to go out there then she should just admit it all. Besides, how much angrier could Belén get? "Fine, there is. It's _you,"_ she pointed at Barry, not that he saw it. "And your family. Do you know why I knew you before I even met you? Your family's story is known by every cop in this city. Every precinct knows it - anyone with internet knows it. Your father was accused of murdering your mother-"

"That wasn't true!" It was Belén who had snapped this time, and loudly too.

"It doesn't matter," Veronica said louder, eyes on Barry who would never know. "Your branded. For the rest of your life everyone will know, and if they don't then they eventually will. That is not what I want for my daughter."

Belén was staring at her mother incredulously. She had lost it - Belén was sure of that. "That is completely _unfair_."

"You're right, it is," Veronica acknowledged. "But it's the truth. Neither can understand what it's like until you have kids of your own. You want the absolute best for them."

"That's a lot of talk for someone who missed a good part of my life," snapped Belén.

"I know that, Belén," Veronica still agreed calmly. "I'm not the best mother and even now I know that your anger is just me breaking your heart again. But believe me when I say that when you become a mother, you're going to understand my desire to make sure you'll be okay in the future. You'll want them to be with someone who is good for them."

Barry had to swallow down another round of snaps in order to get his point across. "I...can understand that," he said slowly. It definitely made Veronica pause for a minute because she was expecting him to snap like Belén.

"No, you don't have to," Belén told him and glared at her mother. "She's being unreasonable and plain crazy. This dinner was just a mistake."

"No, I get it Bells. I do," Barry sighed. "When I moved in with Joe and Iris, Iris started to get teased because she was the friend to the kid whose dad murdered his mom. It's true. That part of me will always follow me."

"Then you see my dilemma with you," Veronica could admit it was surprising that he was agreeing with her.

"I can," Barry nodded, "But I can't accept that. I won't." He straightened up in his chair and leaned forwards. "Because the fact is, I intend to be with your daughter for a very long time, until she tells me we're done. And if I'm lucky, that won't ever happen. I'm hoping it never happens because I love your daughter-"

"-what?" Belén's voice had turned frail while her heart nearly stopped.

Inwardly, Barry wanted to smack himself. This was also _not_ the moment he would've liked to say that but it happened and now he had to move forwards. His hand found Belén's again and he hoped to God he was shifting the right way to at least seem like he was looking at her. "I love you, I do. And I'm so sorry it came out like this, at this moment, but it's out there and I want you to know that I really mean it."

Belén was beginning to smile so widely it was threatening to crack her face. "Don't be sorry. I feel the same way."

"Which is why Ms. Green-" Barry redirected his words to the absolutely stunned Veronica, "- _we_ have to make it work too. I'm not planning on leaving and I really hope that you aren't either because Belén deserves to have her mother around. Question is, do you want to?"

Veronica's familiar eyes flickered from him to Belén. She shook her head and planted her hands on the table to get up. "I think I need to go."

Being completely honest, her answer shocked Barry. He was assuming she would give in for the sake of Belén but apparently...Veronica wasn't the woman he thought she was.

Belén, on her part, was stunned but after a few seconds she came to accept that this was her mother. "Of course," she bit her lip to prevent a bitter laugh from coming through. "Because why would you accept the man that makes your daughter happy, right?" So the bitterness didn't come through but the sourness was all there.

"Belén," Veronica sighed. "If you were on my side of the situation, you'd see what I'm talking about-"

"-I don't think you can say that," Belén shook her head. "Because if it was _my_ daughter, I'd like to do anything to make sure she's happy. Guess when I do become a mother, I won't get my skills from _you_."

Veronica gave a downhearted stare at her daughter. "I'm sorry, Belén."

"Mhm, sure," Belén said dismissively, her gaze lowering to the table. She was grateful Barry couldn't see right now because it meant her shiny tears would be a secret. "Just leave like you always do."

Veronica sighed again but went on her way. _I did it again._

Barry didn't have to see to know how Belén was doing. "Bells," he shifted on his chair and tried to find her hand. He didn't have to do much searching because she latched onto his hand and cried quietly.

~ 0 ~

Nina Clarke walked down the street of CC Picture News with purpose. She hadn't gotten a call from STAR Labs for her assistance in a long, long time so she concluded this must have been important. As she made the turn, she spotted the STAR Labs van parked on the street across from CC Pictures.

"Caitlin? What am I doing here?" she stopped by the driver's seat to find the brunette woman along with Jay - someone she hadn't yet met - sitting inside.

Caitlin sheepishly smiled. "We need a favor."

"Mhm," Nina's eyes squinted a bit. "Last time one of you asked me for a favor I ended up babysitting the entire city just so that Belén and Barry could go on their first date. Please tell me I'm not playing babysitter to the city again?"

"I promise that's not the case this time," Caitlin offered a good smile, but then Jay chimed in.

"They're having dinner with Belén's mother."

"Caitlin!" Nina exclaimed.

"I'm sorry!" Caitlin sighed and looked between Nina and Jay, realizing they hadn't yet met each other. "Jay, this is our friend, Nina, and she's a metahuman."

"Hey," Nina reached an arm over the window to hit Caitlin on the arm. "I thought the first thing about being a metahuman is that we don't tell strangers that."

"He's not a stranger," Caitlin promised. "He's the Flash from another world. And he's helping us stop Zoom."

"'Trying' being the operative word," Jay finally made an input. He leaned forwards to shake hands with the woman.

Nina shook his hand and examined him. "You're actually another speedster?"

"Was, but...still technically, yeah…"

"That made no sense," Nina said, retracting her hand over the window. Her eyes flickered over to Caitlin. "What exactly do you want me for?"

"We're having problems with breachers-"

"Back up there, I'm a Doctor not a scientist. What's a breacher?"

"It's what we're calling people that cross over from my world to yours," Jay explained. "Zoom is sending them here to try and kill Barry."

"Okay," Nina nodded her head to indicate she was understanding.

"One of the breachers turns out to be Linda's doppleganger and we're afraid that because this doppleganger knows there's a possibility that our Linda exists...she may come here for Linda," Caitlin apologized soon after for making that sound a lot more confusing than how it actually was.

"K, I got the jist of the problem. The Tempest will be on standby," Nina gave a mock salute then moved on.

~ 0 ~

"Two more steps, I'll try not to let you trip," Belén teasingly warned Barry as they walked down the remainder of the stairs outside the restaurant.

"Because that's what I want to hear when I can't see," Barry said pretty straight forwards. They walked in silence for a few minutes to - Barry assumed - was Belén's car parked on the street. "Bells..."

"It's okay, Barry," she sighed. "You don't have to say anything. I'm just sorry you wasted your time and that I put you up to this. I know that my mother said some awful things to you and I am SO so sorry for that."

"That's not your fault," Barry placed a hand on her arm, forcing her to stop walking.

"I want you to know, to understand, that nothing of what she said is true for me. I don't...I would _never_ think any of that."

"I know you don't," a small laugh slipped through Barry's lips. He was amused that she had to clarify this for him. He moved his hand up to her shoulder and trailed his fingers till he felt her face. Now knowing more or less where she was, he rested his other hand on her face as well. "But I do understand where she's coming from. I've seen firsthand what it does to people around me."

"But that was when you were children. That's what kids do - they pick on each other. But now, as adults, no one would ever think that"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"I don't...I don't want to talk about it," Belén briefly looked to the side, willing herself to keep it together. "My mom made her choice and I have to accept that. I made my choice as well and that's you, completely _you_."

It was really involuntary when Barry smiled. It just came to him, along with the feelings inside him. "You sure that's what you want, though? Despite everything, Veronica's your mother."

"Yeah, but that didn't matter to her so why should it matter to me?" shrugged Belén. She leaned into his hands cradling her face, relishing in his touch. "Plus, how could I leave you when you said all those pretty words to me back at the restaurant?"

Barry smiled sheepishly and felt his face warm up. He cleared his throat. "You're not upset it came out in the wrong moment?"

"Wrong moment?" Belén repeated incredulously. "I think it came out when I most needed it."

Barry let her words sink in before blurting, "I love you, Belén."

Belén's smile widened at the words - at the _feeling_ he put into his words. "Say it again," she said suddenly. "Just...just say it again, please."

Barry wasn't one to displease her, and with a small laugh, he repeated his words. "I love you."

Belén hummed with her eyes closed. "It's like music to my ears."

"Well, you know, you haven't exactly said it back and I'm trying to be that guy that's okay with it, buuuut…"

Belén laughed and decided to get sly with him. "Mm, I think I'll just hang onto those words for now."

The quick fear in Barry's face was one that Belén just had to laugh at again. "You can't do that!" he frowned. "It's...against the rules!"

"What rules?" asked Belén in the middle of her laugh.

"The unofficial rules!"

Belén just laughed again. Using his hands on her face, Barry coordinated himself and kissed her. Albeit a little crooked, Belén readjusted themselves and kissed back. She knew it was his "persuasion" method and who was she to stop him? She would just let him kiss her, for no other reason of course, until he got tired.

"Very good points," she said breathlessly afterwards, her hands gripping his shoulders. "But I'm gonna need a bit more to decide."

" _Oh_ ," Barry would never get used to her directiveness sometimes. He blinked faster when the blurriness started to clear. The more he blinked the more of his surroundings he could see.

"Barry?" Belén had been watching in a mixture of amusement and concern.

But Barry could see her perfectly now and he was taking in her appearance like he should have done before. "Bells, you look amazing," he finally said after a good two minutes of staring.

Blushing, Belén laughed and looked down at her burgundy dress. "Thank you. Burgundy is my favorite color. And people always do say this is my color.

"Mm, I think that color should thank _you_ for wearing it," Barry found himself saying before he could think fully. Apparently, it was alright as Belén ended up laughing even more.

"Oh my, so apart from my singing-scientist, you also turned out to be very smooth," she playfully hit him on the chest.

"Yeah, not my best," he admitted after rethinking what he had said.

With a small giggle, Belén draped her arms over his shoulders. "It's okay. You're smooth...but not that smooth to get the words out of me."

"Oh really?"

Belén giggled and kissed him again. Barry lowered his arms to her waist and pulled her closer. Now that he was able to see her he felt another rush of...love? Was that it? He had no idea honestly but he did know that he wanted to kiss her for as long as he could.

Towards the end, as they slowed it down, Belén finished it with a series of small kisses that left her dazed as well. "I love you, Barry," the words tumbled out of her mouth in a soft tone.

There was inexplicable feeling that Barry had but he knew it was something beyond happiness. "It _is_ music to my ears," he remembered Belén's words and shared a small laugh with her.

~ 0 ~

Nina had been standing guard over the rooftop of a building parallel to CCPN and had watched Dr. Light tip over the STAR Labs van with Caitlin and Jay. After checking to see if the two were okay, she put on the cream-colored mask Caitlin had given her and flew into the building.

Dr. Light had gotten everyone out of the building except Iris, Linda and the editor Larkin. "I need to become you, Linda," the doppleganger held her hands on either side of her, glowing with waiting power.

"Not on my watch!" Nina flew in and blasted Dr. Light over to one of the glass offices, shattering the glass wall. "Out! Get out!" she then ordered to the other humans.

Iris didn't think twice and pulled Linda and Larkin towards the doors.

As Dr. Light was getting up from her major blow, Nina flew into the office and grabbed the woman by the coat's collars. "You've been causing problems, I hear."

"None of your concern!" Dr. Light pushed Nina away with some of her light.

Nina shut her eyes to shield them from the bright light but it didn't stop her from attacking back. She thrust a hand forwards and kept Dr. Light against a threshold. "You attack my friends, so that makes it my business!"

And to show she meant business truly, she thrust a hand to the side and pulled the helmet right off her. For a moment Nina was amazed how exactly E-2 Linda looked like their known Linda. But that didn't stop her from delivering the final blow that knocked Dr. Light out...like a light.

~0~

After being informed of what happened during their absence, Belén and Barry rushed back to STAR Labs. It was much easier now that Barry wasn't blind. Caitlin was in the middle of putting stitches on Jay's forehead in the cortex while the rest watched.

"Caitlin, are you guys okay?" Barry asked as soon as they made it in.

"Yeah," Caitlin smiled and briefly gestured to her okay appearance then got back to finishing the stitches.

"Barry, I'm sorry. Doctor Light's never attempted to kill before," Jay apologized profusely.

Nina stood with arms crossed and a put out face. "Yeah, there was no reasoning with a psychopath. I've got the bruises to prove it."

"Nina," Belén moved over to her. "Thank you for helping us. We know you're not exactly on board with the whole…"

Nina smiled and waved it off. "Dr. Light is safe in the pipeline. Whenever you need backup, you know I'll be there."

"With Zoom around we may have to take you up on that," Barry warned, but the woman simply nodded to reaffirm her words.

"I don't get it though," she spoke up again, "Why was this Earth 2 Linda trying to kill our Earth's Linda? Aren't dopplegangers meant to like each other or something?"

"Have you ever watched a movie?" Cisco raised an honest eyebrow at her. Nina just sarcastically rolled her eyes.

"She probably thought she could take our Linda's place here," Caitlin theorized, "And escape from Zoom."

"He's that bad?" Nina asked.

"Yes," answered every last one of them in the room.

"Then why did you think letting this woman, who was clearly so terrified of this 'Zoom' roam around was such a good idea?"

"Finally someone with the right brains," Harry made a gesture towards Nina. "It wasn't. It was stupid, and you know what else was stupid?" he turned to face Jay. "Thinking we could reason with her. She was under Zoom's influence and no doubt under the threat of being siphoned."

"He's got you there," Nina mumbled and promptly received a jab on the side from Belén. Well, she still thought the same.

"This whole thing is because of you," Harry continued, apparently more fueled up than earlier. "He-" he pointed at Barry who blinked at being put on the spot like that, "-doubts himself because of you, but believe me, Barry can do what you could not. Barry can stop Zoom."

Jay stood up from his seat to argue back. "I spent two years hunting Zoom-"

"WRONG!" Harry practically shouted. "Zoom hunted _you_! You spent the last two years of your life running, running, running from Zoom."

"Zoom would have killed me just like he will kill Barry if you lead him down this path!"

"No, because he is not like you," Harry stepped towards him. "Barry runs towards danger, not from it, because Barry's not a coward."

Jay couldn't hold himself back anymore and threw a hard punch at Harry. The latter fell over the back of the desk but didn't take a moment to check himself when he delivered a punch himself. They started to go back and forth without anyone's intervention. Belén looked at the others in concern but no one dared to do anything. In fact, she could even swear Barry had just given her a "let it be" look. As if it was best to get it out of the system already.

She politely, but very, disagreed.

"Stop it!" she shouted and made a gesture - or so she had intended to - at them only to throw bands of green that latched onto the men's hands, forcing them to stop. With wide eyes , she looked at her hand. "Sorry..."

"Seriously?" Harry peeled off the material forcing his hands together but it wasn't until Belén commanded it that he got free. He had yet to see her showcase any powers since he arrived so this was genuinely startling.

"You two-" she pointed at Harry and Jay, "-need to get it together. You are not five year olds. Hell, my nephew doesn't pull this sort of stuff."

"This is a bit more complicated than a four year old, Belén," Jay said.

"Okay," Barry cut in before they got into argument as well. "Dr. Light is in the pipeline and she didn't hurt anyone. The question now is what do we do?"

"We do what Dr. Wells said," Jay surprised them. "We use her to lure Zoom here, end this once and for all."

"You can't be serious," Cisco made a face at the awful plan. Even Nina was getting upset that her trouble of putting Light in the pipeline was about to be undone.

"More breachers are gonna come. Innocent people may die," Jay continued. "We got lucky once. I doubt it'll happen again. Zoom is a nightmare you can't wake up from."

"I've already had my worst nightmare," Barry said quietly. "His name was Reverse Flash, and I spent a long time being afraid of him. I'm not gonna be afraid anymore."

Jay nodded. "Okay, Barry. You may be faster than me, but you're not ready to fight Zoom by yourself."

"That's just it, Jay. I'm not gonna fight him by myself. I've got all of you to help me. I've got Dr. Wells-"

"No, I can't in good conscience help you when I know it'll only lead to you losing your speed, or even worse, your death," Jay shook his head.

"Is optimism an Earth-1 thing?" Belén whispered to the others behind.

"And you all need to ask yourself why Dr. Wells, for years, wouldn't admit that he was responsible for the Particle Accelerator exploding underground," Jay was on a rampage of words and there was no stopping him. "He may not be Harrison Wells from your Earth, but he has just as many secrets as the one you knew."

Caitlin was appalled to see he was actually leaving. "Jay, please don't go."

"I'm so sorry, Caitlin," Jay apologized and then left them.

"I am not here for all this drama," Nina declared with raised hands as she, too, walked out.

Everyone else sighed as they contemplated how they would get Jay to come back.

~0~

The next day, Cisco had gotten to work on a new way to get all the breeches closed in the city once and for all. It was rather quiet in STAR Labs since Jay hadn't appeared and Harry barely made a noise wherever he was.

"Cisco?" Belén poked her head inside the man's workroom.

"Bells, hey," Cisco looked up from his computer to see the woman coming in.

"Are you working already?" Belén walked up to his seat and looked at the computer filled with numerous charts and whatnot. "It's only ten in the morning."

"Yeah, well, someone's got to close those breeches," Cisco gave a shrug. "So did you come here to ask about breeches, or…?"

"You got me," Belén raised her hands and offered an apologetic smile. "With all this stuff about powers and fighting, I was just wondering what you were thinking of doing with yours?" Cisco got serious and turned to his computer to 'work' again. Belén looked down at him, expecting him to at least comment but he never said anything. "Cisco, I really don't mean to push but I think we should talk about this. You need to express these powers-"

"I would really rather not, actually," Cisco glanced up at her.

"Cisco, think about it," Belén began to pace back and forth, "You have these cool powers that let you see _visions_! I would kill for some powers like that."

"You want them? Have them."

Belén stopped to look at him sarcastically. "Very funny. You can do so many things with these powers and you're choosing to ignore them. We both know that can't last forever."

"Not forever persay, but...for a while...yeah," Cisco nodded his head.

"You have powers, and I really believe you should at least tap into them to see what you can do."

"You have powers?" they both heard Barry's voice from behind.

"Crap," flew out from Belén's mouth. She apologetically smiled at Cisco who was now mockingly glaring at her.

Barry was in shock as he reviewed Belén's words he'd overheard. "Cisco?" he stepped further inside.

"Bells, next time, we're going to not talk about secrets in the place where our friends are," Cisco pointed at her as he got up from his chair. "I mean, on a technical scale, I _do_ have powers, but…" he trailed off and Barry just stood there and waited for him to give an explanation.

Belén's eyes flickered from the two friends nervously. "Um, maybe I should explain…?"

Barry looked at her with a bit of a frown. "You knew about this?"

"Mhm," she nodded. "I mean, you can't be mad, remember? It wasn't my story to tell?" she knew those words rang a bell in his head.

"Fair enough," Barry sighed. "Cisco...what's going on? Why didn't you tell us?"

"Yeah, I was gonna tell you, I swear I was, but I didn't. I was just... I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?"

"Dr. Wells said the dark matter gave me this, this gift. He said that one day I'd thank him for it. What if I become like him?"

"Cisco," Belén turned to him, speaking softly as she had never heard that reasoning for his lack of usage of powers. "You can _never_ become like Dr. Wells. It's his mistake, actually. Because you could never use those powers for evil."

"Yeah...maybe you're right," Cisco acknowledged with a nod of his head. He then looked at Barry who was agreeing, so far, with Belén. "And dude, don't be mad at her. I asked her not to say."

"I get that," Barry recalled his own requests of who to keep his powers a secret from. "So…how do your abilities work…?" he asked curiously.

"They're actually really cool," Belén giddly said as she moved to him. "Tell him, Cisco."

Cisco playfully rolled his eyes. "Uh, I get these feelings sometimes, these vibes, visions of the breachers when they come to this Earth. I just... I'm not sure what triggers it. Sometimes it just happens. Sometimes it's when I'm touching something of theirs."

"Told you," Belén chuckled. "He gets visions!"

"Interesting," Barry truly remarked. "That can come in handy, actually. But you know we'll have to tell Caitlin and the others if you want to help."

"Yeah," Cisco nodded. "Oh boy, that should be fun."

"You can think about a way while we get breakfast," Barry motioned they would be leaving. "Cait's waiting."

Although Caitlin wasn't in the best of moods, she accompanied her friends for a good meal. Belén had stayed with her again at her apartment knowing Caitlin would need some support if they truly couldn't get Jay to come back.

"You never know-" Belén tried being optimistic for her, "-Jay could be back. He just needs to cool down."

"Yeah, I just... I was getting used to Jay being part of the team...and now he's...gone?" Caitlin knew it sounded ridiculous she was this upset over a man she just met. She was glad that her friends weren't poking fun at her.

"Well, look, Jay is a hero. They always seem to show up just when you need 'em," Barry tried his hand at comfort as well.

But before Caitlin could do anything, Cisco arrived and slammed a piece of paper down on the table. "Yo, peep that."

"What?" Caitlin made a face while Barry raised the paper to reveal a phone number.

"You got her number?" he mused.

"That's how it's done, young Padawan," Cisco musingly retorted.

"I'm sorry, were you trying to get lessons to ask some girls out?" Belén sarcastically then asked from Barry.

"Uh…" Barry didn't know how to respond but his hand instinctively put down the paper with the number.

"Because, I can go if you'd like to have more lessons with Cisco."

"I-I was trying to cheer him up…" Barry was barely coming up with his explanation but Belén was having too much fun to give up then.

"Hm, and your idea was to ask for phone numbers?" she arched an eyebrow. "Did you get someone else's, then?"

"You're not being funny again-"

Belén burst into a laugh. "I'm sorry, it's just hilarious seeing you get all nervous and flustered. It'll never get old."

Barry's face was flat with unamusement, but it didn't matter for Belén. "Oh, well, as long I entertain you…"

"Oh, you know I love you," Belén said, still giggling. As she leaned in to kiss him, they missed the looks of their friends.

"Hold up-" Cisco barely got to say when Belén took interest in the owner of the phone number.

"So who's this lady, Cisco? I have to approve first."

"Oh, oh, you have to approve now?" Cisco made a face. "When did we settle on that?"

"Well, I can't have you kissing another Lisa Snart. C'mon, tell us who she is," Belén made a gesture with her hand. With a roll of his eyes, Cisco indicated it was the young barista behind the counter.

"Hm," went both Caitlin and Belén after seeing the woman themselves.

"Definitely not evil," Belén nodded her head. "I can't wait to meet her, Cisco."

"You're gonna embarrass me, aren't you?" Cisco asked in plain horror.

"You owe us," it was Barry who responded which elicited a betrayed look from Cisco. Barry just smirked and wondered how, oh how, he could help Belén embarrass their friend when it came time to meet the girl.

~ 0 ~

**Earth 2, Central City.**

A corpse of a woman with white hair pitch black eyes fell to the ground. A dark, scarlet red, heeled boot stepped over the corpse's stomach just to make sure the corpse was actually...a corpse. The sound of electricity crackled in the air from two different bodies: the corpse...and the new owner of said powers.

"Seriously?" Poison Ivy's irritated voice cut Datura's smile short.

The brunette metahuman turned sideways, allowing her primp curls to cascade over her side. "What? I needed to let the city's metahumans know I'm still here." She raised both her hands that now enjoyed the sparkle of electricity. "And Livewire was one of those metahumans who thought I was gone. Couldn't have that."

Poison Ivy spared Livewire's corpse a brief glance. The police would have a fun one with that when they discovered the corpse in the alley. "You're going to get caught by the police. You're not exactly sane all the time, remember?"

Just as she said that, Datura's eyes flashed with the same blackness of Livewire's eyes. "Makes me more interesting, doesn't it?" her voice overlapped with Livewire's, as if the latter was actually there and not dead.

Poison Ivy, however, did not seemed startled in the least. She seemed to be thinking of something else, it appeared, and her conclusion came fast. "You want to be caught by the cops, don't you?"

The blackness in Datura's eyes disappeared, leaving the metahuman blinking fast for a few seconds. "The hell are you talking about?" she asked in a harsh manner and moved to leave, but Poison Ivy grabbed her by the arm.

"You _want_ to be caught by the cops," Poison Ivy repeated her accusation. "Or you at least want to be in danger of getting caught. You trying to see someone there?"

Datura only briefly smirked. "Oh give it a rest, Ivy. I'm just doing what I do best: siphoning. Is it my fault the cops are actually getting a clue in what they're doing? Just means the game is gonna get more interesting now. And speaking of 'game', I'm up for a visit to our neighboring world," she nodded to the side as if Earth 1 was really right next to them.

"You can't," Poison Ivy warned. "You don't know anything about her yet-"

"-doesn't mean I can't kick her ass, though."

"True, _but_ it doesn't mean we have to be careless."

"I'm not being careless," Datura raised her gloved hands in defence. "If anything, I want to see what she can do. I want to see her fighting style. In conclusion, I want to see what the Azalea can do. It's the only way I'll know if she...works for my plan."

On that, Poison Ivy could not disagree. "It would be nice to know what we're dealing with. And, it could be smart to learn more about her firsthand."

Datura's red lips stretched into a smirk. "I knew you'd see it my way, Ivy. Whaddya say we head on over to Earth 1 for a visit? I bet Wells misses us too."

Poison Ivy laughed shortly. "You're so cynical. I love it."

"You did teach me," Datura patted her partner's arm before taking the lead out of the alley.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Aaah, I love this so much you have no idea! I think this story (season 2) is probably my favorite Bells/Barry story so far. I've written 3 full ones and I'm currently writing season 4 so we'll see if that changes anytime soon xD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "noble-crescent" and the tag I created for any posts having to do with my work is # noblecrescentedit.


	6. She Arrives and She Returns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belén comes face to face with the long-awaited Earth 2 siphoner, Datura, but as much as she tries to figure it out she just can't understand why Datura wants her of all people.

"I've no idea why I'm here," Belén admitted to her sister once they were sat face to face (with a prison safety glass wall between them of course).

Maritza had long ago stopped making comments I've surprised whenever her sister visited her. Maritza decided, long time ago, that she basically got what she deserved. If the Belén wanted to come and visit her once in a while, then Maritza would take it. But since her imprisonment, Maritza could probably count the times her sister had actually visited her on one hand. Whenever Belén actually visited her, it usually pertain to something involving Axel's custody or something of legal terms. lately a lot of things were related back to their mother, and that was no surprise.

However this time, the look on her sister's face was a mixture of heartbreak and yet... there was something different about Belén now. There was a new light on her face and Maritza was curious to know what it was for.

"Whatever you want to tell me, I'm here," Maritza calmly said, even offering Belén an encouraging smile to speak what was on her mind.

Belén looked down for a second to think about what she was doing. there was, of course, plenty of people she could talk to about her mother period think there was Caitlin, Iris, and Nina...hell, there was even her therapist she could talk to. But, the Belén knew that something about talking to her sister over their mother would give her a sense of...understanding that no one else could give. Plus, they were sisters and for a very long time Belén stopped acting like she _had_ a sister.

"It's mom," she finally began. Her hand clutched the phone on her ear. "She had dinner with Barry and me last week."

"That's surprising," Maritza blinked.

"It's also the place she told us that she would basically not accept our relationship."

"Aaaand...that's not so surprising," Maritza sighed. "I can't believe she would do that."

"And she doesn't even have a good reason not to accept us. Do you want to hear what it is?"

Maritza knew Belén would tell her despite her answer. It looked like Belén was in urgent need of talking about it.

"She thinks Barry's not the right fit for me because of his parents' murder case."

"What?" frowned Maritza who really didn't understand what one had to do with the other.

"She thinks that people will never stop looking at Barry as the 10 year old boy who's dad murdered his mother. And, by extension, those people will brandish me into the same view as Barry," Belén seethed with anger just at the memory of the stupid dinner. "I've heard a lot of things from Mom but this one is by far the most ridiculous." Maritza remained quiet for a couple seconds while she thought about it. "What?" Belén asked once she'd caught onto her sister's silence.

"I can kind of see where Mom would get that," Maritza admitted, and as soon as she did Belén went to hang up the phone to leave. "Belén, wait!" Her exclaim stopped Belén just inches from hanging up. "I said I could see where she got it from, not that I agree with her."

Belén mildly relaxed, pulling the phone back with her. "I'm just so upset. I guess that's why I'm here."

Maritza smiled. "I'm the only one who can truly understand what our mother is like." Belén had to agree there. "I'm sorry she did that, Belén. But I think this time it'll be different. She'll come around."

Belén's loud scoff was a clear indication of her disbelief. "Sure. Why would this time be any different?"

"Because she's staying in the city and getting a job near you. I think this time Mom's serious about having a relationship with you and Axel."

"What a great way to start," Belén sourly remarked.

"Belén, you can't expect her to change in one day. It's going to take time." Maritza knew Belén was hating the fact she made sense.

"What am I supposed to do, then? Excuse all the horrible things she said?"

"Absolutely not. Wait for an apology. I really think Mom might surprise you this time," Maritza's confident smile did provide Belén with some hope that their mother would begin to change for the better.

"Maybe..." Belén gave in a few minutes later. She bit her lip nervously and spared her sister a few looks here and there. "Thanks...for...that..."

Maritza understood what Belén was trying to say. She wouldn't make a big deal out of it in fear of driving Belén away again. "Anytime, you know that. It's not like I have busy days, right?" Her attempt at being funny was met with a half smile from Belén.

"I never asked..." Belén began, already full of guilt, "...how's this place? Is it...is it decent?" Her eyes went over Maritza's chair to dim gray wall and the few security guards standing behind. In all her anger towards her sister, she never bothered to ask Maritza if the place was humanly decent. Did Maritza have access to everything a regular non-metahuman prisoner did?

Maritza was clearly not expecting that, judging by her stunned face. It meant conversation - moreover, it meant Belén _wanted_ to talk to her. "U-um...it's fine. I mean, it's prison but...we're treated okay. I'm one of the first metahumans placed in this new part of Iron Heights so we're sort of the guinea pigs. But it's been good."

Belén nodded. "That's good to know. You know that if anything ever gets...bad, in there, you can tell me right? Despite our problems I wouldn't want you to get hurt or anything."

"Thanks, Belén," Maritza smiled in gratitude. It seemed like there was something else on her mind that she wanted to say, but it appeared her reluctance got the better of her.

"What is it?" Belén asked, knowing all too well what those faces looked like.

"Um..." Maritza bit her lower lip just like Belén to show she was nervous. "It's...it's about Axel."

"Oh, he's fine. Like, he's doing really good," Belén quickly went to say but Maritza cut her off.

"It's not that, although I'm glad he's doing okay. I just...I wanted to ask if you could bring pictures of him? You know, like...pictures of him and his new preschool class? Stuff like that."

"Oh," Belén blinked rapidly. "Oh my God, of course! Of course I can do that. I'm sorry I didn't think of it before-"

"-no, no, it's okay. And thank you. I don't want him to come into this place, but...he's my son and I want to see him grow up even if its through pictures." Maritza spoke in resignation because she'd long ago decided she would never see her son in person again.

"I'll do my best to get you some soon," Belén promised. When she left the prison, she felt somewhat different when it came to her sister. There was still resentment and some anger towards Maritza, but it wasn't the same blinded rage she felt at the beginning. It left Belén feeling a little bit more at peace.

At least something was getting better.

~ 0 ~

Barry moved through the crowd of cops in the crime scene, careful to avoid a certain someone in the process. They'd gotten a call that morning about a suspicious-looking body (or thing, the caller may have said 'a thing') in an alley.

"Morning!" Patty Spivot's cheery greeting was enough to startle Barry into a momentary stop on the sidewalk. The petite detective was even smiling that chilly morning.

"Hey, Patty," Barry continued to walk, now alongside her.

"So, this is a fair warning, but this corpse is pretty gruesome," Patty crinkled her nose just thinking at what laid ahead.

"I've seen my good share of things," Barry reminded her just as they turned for the alley.

"Yeah, but..." Patty shivered and came to a stop a decent distance from the corpse.

Barry smiled slightly and went ahead to take a look at what was so awful. He set his things down on the ground then bent down beside the corpse. He raised the drape set over the corpse and came face to face with a shriveled, black - almost charred - corpse underneath.

"Told you," Patty said from her spot. "That is _not_ a regular homicide corpse."

"No it is not..." agreed Barry with a thought hum in the end. The way the corpse was not only shriveled but...it almost looked like if the insides had been _sucked_ up. "Oh damn." He mumbled after his realization.

"What do we got today?" Veronica's voice actually made Barry spring up to his feet as if he'd been caught in a bad moment. Veronica was making her way down the alley with Joe at her side.

"Definitely not something you want to see after eating breakfast," Patty answered casually and the smile she'd had on since Barry saw her disappeared once Veronica gave her a sharp look. Patty cleared her throat and tried to sound more professional for Veronica. "Barry and I were just thinking this can't possibly be a regular human-on-human homicide."

"Clearly," Veronica judged after catching a glimpse of the charred ankle peeking out from the drape. "It's those metahumans you have crawling in the city."

"Alright, so it's a metahuman we're looking after. But it wouldn't hurt to first identify this corpse and do some digging on them," Joe suggested since they had no other lead than the corpse.

"We should let the CSI get to it, then," Veronica barely made a look in Barry's way when she left.

"Why do you look like a kid who just got in trouble?" Patty tilted her head at Barry, noticing the way he was shifting and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Because he's overreacting," Joe answered before Barry could. The speedster dropped his arm to his side and momentarily glared at Joe. All Joe did in return was smirk, because if anything this was amusing.

"Did I miss something?" Patty looked between the two men, fairly confused.

"Not a lot," Joe actually chuckled as he too left.

"Sounds like I did," Patty laid her eyes on Barry who'd tried to seem more casual about things, though he was horribly failing. "Is there something I can help you with, Barry?"

"No, not really," Barry sighed.

"You sure?"

Barry sighed again and brought a hand to his forehead. "It's not the place to talk about it."

"You look like you want to, though..." Patty rocked on her feet and put her hands together in front of her. "And though this is a crime scene, it's also the only place where no one will be interesting in eavesdropping a CSI and detective near a charred corpse."

Barry couldn't help smile at the petite detective. "It's...I mean, it's...it's kind of awkward, to be honest. You know Veronica is Belén's mother, right?"

"Yeah," Patty nodded. "Can't really see the resemblance to be honest..."

Barry smiled for a few seconds before continuing. "She doesn't agree with our relationship so now it's..."

"Awkward as hell?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry," Patty said the first thing that popped into her head. "It can't be easy working with her right now, then..."

"She's not rude or anything," Barry said as a means of comfort for himself. Veronica hadn't been rude towards him while at work, but it was just the fact she disagreed with his relationship with Belén that made things bad. "She has her opinions about me and...I can't say that I really blame her for it, but..."

"You don't have to let her get into your relationship," Patty crossed her arms over her chest. "I had a boyfriend in high school that my parents absolutely hated. And they had no reason to, really. They just didn't like that he had piercings."

"So what did you do, then?"

"I was a teenager, I didn't care what my parents said," Patty shrugged. "But the point is that my parents were not the ones in the relationship, _I_ was. The situation here is much easier: you and Belén are adults now, and Veronica's got no say in who Belén dates."

"Thanks Patty," Barry drew in a breath then turned to the corpse. "You mind telling that to Veronica for me?"

"God no!" Patty blurted. "She kind of scares me, to be honest."

"Now you see what I'm up against," Barry bent down in front of the corpse again. "I'd rather take this corpse."

He and Patty shared a not so quiet laugh after that.

~ 0 ~

The entire STAR Labs team shuddered after getting the pictures from Barry.

"That _cannot_ be real," Belén was, frankly, disgusted with the M.E's pictures.

"But it is," Barry looled at the rest of the group and saw similar reactions. "Obviously, this is a meta's work but I've no idea what to go on. On the one hand, the body looks burnt...but on the other hand..."

"It looks unnaturally shriveled," Caitlin deduced with her medical experience backing her up. "The linings of the skin...it almost looks like the corpse has no insides anymore."

"It had its guts sucked out," Cisco said with widened eyes. "That's alien-movie worthy."

"You're not dealing with aliens, Ramon," Harry strode in and immediately looked at the screens holding the awful sights. "You are dealing with Datura's work now."

"This is _her_ work?" Belén's eyes widened in alarm. She once again look at the pictures as if it were the first time she was seeing them again. Now not only was she disgusted, she was also starting to get a little more scared of the famous Datura.

Harry got closer to the screens to examine the corpse. "Back on Earth 2, these corpses are found every time Datura is sighted in the city."

"What...does she do to them?" Barry, apart from angry, was just confused.

"I've no idea." And it was easy to tell that it killed Harry that he didn't know what Datura did to these corpses. "Datura is a siphoner, meaning one of her powers could've done this."

"What kind of power would that be?" Belén started to think what could happen to her body if Datura got to her.

"A power that takes out all of your insides, obviously," Cisco's answer did not help her at all.

"It doesn't matter," Harry turned away from the screens to face the group. "Datura is as intelligent as she is formidable - she _wanted_ you to find that," he pointed back at the pictures.

"Let us know that she's here," Caitlin concluded in a quiet voice.

"Mission accomplished," Cisco straightened up on his chair. "Psycho is here. What do we do?"

"We gotta figure out who the corpse was," Harry replied and moved back to the desk. "She didn't pick at random. The corpses back at home were almost always metahumans whose powers were siphoned. She could be doing the same here."

"I'll pick at the record to see if we can get some DNA to match with," Barry offered with the intention of going back to the precinct at that moment.

"I think we need a profile of Datura," Belén's request stopped everyone for a moment. She was looking directly at Harry while making her case. "It's clear that we're going to be dealing with her games and the best way to counteract is having her record to know what we're dealing with."

"You mean like her background?" Harry was a bit reluctant on that side, but fortunately Belén was on another plan.

"Her M.O. The way she fights, what powers she has. All that stuff." Belén moved towards the screens, her eyes flickering from one angle of the corpse to the other. She gulped and kept her fear hidden well from behind. "I need it."

Harry's jaw tightened for a second, but feeling that rejecting Belén's request would put him in a bad situation - possibly suspicious - he gave a small nod and exited the cortex.

"The rest of you..." Belén's eyes flickered to Cisco first, "...try to find out what power she used to make that body look like _that_ -" she jerked her thumb over her shoulder, "-because if we figure that out, I'll know which blow to specifically avoid. Caitlin, maybe you can make something to counteract said unidentified power? And Barry, for the love of God, please figure out who that corpse was and what power Datura stole from him." Barry, like the others, looked like he wanted to open his mouth to question her, so she beat them to it. "And yes, I'm taking command for the moment because we all know why Datura's here."

While that was _true_ , none of them wanted to agree out loud because it would mean Belén would start freaking out even more once reality hit her.

"Belén, why don't you come back to the precinct with me?" Barry's question was sudden, but he figured it was better to have Belén near someone in case Datura got smart. "You can help me investigate?"

"I see right through your little plan, Barry Allen," Belén narrowed her eyes on him. "And I'll have you know the only reason I'm saying 'yes' is because I really need to know who that metahuman was. Let's go." She nodded for the exit and took off first, only calling back to say, "Have Harry send Datura's profile to us when he gets it!"

"Please help," Barry told the remaining two before rushing to catch up with Belén.

~ 0 ~

Bright green vines crept through a doorknob until something within the knob clicked open. Heeled boots clicked down the apartment the intruders immediately deemed a mess.

"Pathetic that this is actually the home of Central City's best." Datura brought a gloved hand to the side of her head, feigning to be disgusted. Her dark eyes flickered to the living room that only had one couch so far and a bunch of boxes stacked around it.

"Give her a break, she hasn't had time to move in," Poison Ivy moved past her partner and gave the apartment a similar disgusted face as Datura. "What are we doing here again?"

"Well, by now I'm sure my little corpse victim is all the STAR Labs team can think of," Datura stopped by a portrait hanging on the wall already. It was of Belén and Barry at the city's park. Datura picked it up and grazed a gloved finger over the glass. "Poor Belén must be going crazy trying to figure out more things about me." She turned around with a smirk on her face. "It's only fair I learn more about her too." The portrait in her hand spontaneously combusted, but the flames didn't faze her. If anything, it made her smile widen.

~ 0 ~

Belén was ashamed to say she was bored waiting for Barry to come up with their corpse's identity. In her defense, there wasn't a lot she could do to help him. The kind of meant that it was grounds for her to be bored, right?

"I didn't know you were a nail biter," Barry's remark pulled her attention from the wall to the speedster sitting in front of a computer.

Belén only then realized she'd been hopelessly biting her index finger nail. She immediately dropped her hand to her side. "I don't do it often."

"Just when you're really nervous," Barry concluded with a small nod.

Belén only smiled out of bitter sarcasm. "Wouldn't you be if you had a psychotic siphoner after you?"

"Well, we don't know if she's psychotic. She's a murderer, but-"

"-she's still a murderer then. I just don't get what's so special about me that she had to cross a world to fight me," Belén crossed her arms. It was the only thing that ran through her mind ever since she learned she was being hunted. It just didn't make sense.

"If she's anything like Zoom, she's just looking to be the best," Barry then got to thinking. "Which, I guess...would mean she _is_ psychotic."

"Great, I win," Belén said with an almost pout on her face.

"It's okay to be scared," Barry spoke from an honest position. He knew firsthand what it was like having this mysterious enemy on your shoulders and knowing nothing about them.

"I don't want to be scared. I want to win." Belén wasn't sure if this attitude was better than being outright scared, but for now it felt better at least. "She's taunting us."

Barry's eyes shifted to the screen in front of him and agreed. "Yeah. Got that. And you know what else we got? The DNA match."

"You're lying!" Belén practically jumped off the desk she'd been sitting at and rushed to his desk.

"So our DNA matched up with someone named...Fallon Pipes." Barry skimmed the profile of the woman who turned out to be quite familiar with justice system.

" _How_ many crimes does she have under her list?" Belén blinked.

"Umm...not the point here. We need to figure out if this was a random hit-"

"-Datura never acts on a random note," Jay's voice startled the two metas. They looked away from the screen to see the man coming into the lab.

"Jay, what are you doing here?" Barry got up from his chair and started to wonder if the man had come alone. As far as they knew, Jay had chosen to leave the team.

"Don't start getting ideas," Jay warned once he'd concluded the metas' silence meant they were beginning to think about his intentions. "I'm still out but Datura is a dangerous criminal that you know nothing about."

"Which is why we asked Harry to give us a profile on her," Belén crossed her arms and gave Jay a long look. "Unless you have something to add..."

"I _fought_ Datura and I _lost_. You _cannot_ go up against her, Belén."

Belén dropped her hands in offence. Yes, he made sense but it wasn't like she was going to stand there and allow Datura to wreck havoc in her city. "Thank you for your kind words but it's not like we have a choice."

"If anything, you can give us tips on what not to do while we're fighting her," Barry added.

"It doesn't matter what you do," Jay purposely spoke slow as if he were speaking to two children, "If Datura gets even _one_ finger on you, she _can_ and she _will_ siphon your powers. One finger is all it takes."

"No matter how powerful she is, she has to have a weakness." Belén felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and when she pulled it out she saw it was from Caitlin. "And maybe we're going to find out what it is soon," she waved her phone at Jay. "Harry's got the profile and I'm going to go learn about her."

"Belén-"

"-you chose to leave, Jay," Belén cut him off. "You don't get to come back and tell us what to do if you're not going to play with the rest of us."

Jay seemed out of words. He pursed his lips together and looked between the metas for a full minute - in which Belén did not back down - then turned to leave.

"Jay," Barry went to follow but Belén grabbed onto his arm to stop him. "Belén, we can't-"

"-we're not going to chase after him when he's the one being unhelpful," she pulled Barry back towards the computer. "When he's ready to come back, then we can talk. Now this Fallon woman, what do we know about her?"

With a sigh, Barry took his seat again and continued going through Fallon's profile. As it turned out, Fallon was a wanted metahuman criminal who favored robberies.

"She was a metahuman with the power of sonic screams," Barry leaned back on his chair and side-glanced Belén.

"So we have a Black Canary on our hands," Belén let her head hang low. "Only this one's about to be a real bitch."

"You wanna go back to STAR Labs?" Barry started getting up. He thought they'd have more time before Harry compiled a profile for Datura, in which he would use the time to ease Belén's nerves.

"Not like we have much of a choice," Belén answered on her way towards the exit. Barry shut his computer down and went to catch up with her.

Downstairs, the CCPD was going on as usual with its cases. The Fallon Pipes case was about to be left for cold while STAR Labs would take it head-on. Detective Veronica Green was settling some things with the receptionist when she caught sight of her daughter coming downstairs with Barry. Straightaway, Veronica could tell Belén was upset. The two headed for the elevators and waited by them for one to open up.

"Detective?" Joe came up behind her and left some papers with the receptionist.

Veronica looked away from Belén to see Joe pretty much figuring out what she was doing. "Sue me if I still care about my daughter."

"I get it, but you're doing it all wrong," Joe said with no intention of filtering.

"Thanks." Veronica looked back at Belén in time to see the latter rambling on in distress - judging by the redness in Belén's face anyways - until Barry acted. He set his hands on her arms and seemed to talk her down enough for her to breathe again.

"I'm just saying it how it is," Joe raised his hands in defense.

Belén seemed to cling at Barry when he offered her a hug. It definitely seemed to calm her down.

On some level, Veronica wished she could offer that type of support for her daughter, but it seemed like every time she tried to do good she just screwed things over. She finally tore her gaze from Belén and returned to the somewhat conversation with Joe. "Thanks, West, but I'm well aware that I'm doing everything wrong."

Joe paused for a second to process her words then turned and walked into the bullpen after her. "Well, if you are, then why don't you try fixing things?"

"Because if I do that, I'll probably make things worse," Veronica said so matter-of-factly that it sounded like she'd given up already.

"So that's it?" Joe's question stopped her walking. "You transferred to a new city, bought a house and took custody of your grandson to never speak to Belén again? Seems like a waste to me." Veronica pursed her lips in what Joe swore was a movement to restrain herself from hurting him. "Think about it," Joe called and allowed the woman to keep going.

~ 0 ~

"She's, in conclusion, dangerous as they come," Cisco sarcastically said before Harry finished his long, _long_ lecture on Datura with her profile. "I think I'm going to save us 20 minutes, just saying."

Harry shot the man a glare before deciding to ignore would be the better option right now. He was doing what he could - what he _had_ to - and he wasn't going to further his pain with ridiculous sarcasm.

Fortunately for him, Belén seemed more grateful he'd taken the time to explain more about this meta. "Harry, please, go ahead."

Harry wasn't going to give Cisco the satisfaction of being right and taking 20 minutes to explain who Datura was. He'd cut it short and just give the important things. "Like the other metas, Datura surfaced some time after the Particle Accelerator. She started leaving corpses - like the one the CCPD found - around my city after making robberies or whatever she felt like that day."

"Sounds lovely," Cisco still gave a sarcastic remark that earned himself an elbow on the side from Caitlin.

"I don't know how she ever met Poison Ivy, but ever since Datura proclaimed herself as Datura she was already working as Poison Ivy's partner," Harry continued on, choosing to just forget Cisco for the rest of his life.

"Well, the two _are_ plant-based metas," Belén folded her arms over her chest. " _I'd_ like to find another meta to share tips with."

"Great, go find yourself another Poison Ivy then," Harry said dismissively before continuing. "There's not a lot known about Datura's backstory except that she used to work as a scientist somewhere in city."

"If she was working as a scientist and even on an experiment then that's probably how she garnered the ability to siphon," Caitlin's theory was agreed upon by the rest as soon as she said it.

"It's like me when I was in the lab," Barry nodded.

"Do we know anything about her family? Friends? Something we can use against her?" Belén asked with little faith but she just had to do herself the favor and ask.

Harry's jaw tightened for a minute before answering, "No. All anyone knows is that she made herself known by leaving her trademark corpses behind for the police to find. Eventually, she became part of Zoom's crew. She's the weapon he uses when he wants to keep the rest of the metahumans in place."

"Okay, so the powers...what the hell are those?" Belén asked.

"It's un-calculated how many powers Datura actually has," Harry's honesty made Belén squeak a little.

"So...so she could have like a thousand?"

Even as Harry nodded, Barry shook his head in disagreement. "No. Everyone has a limit, even she does. We just gotta find it."

"We've been trying to do that but please-" Harry gestured at the small team, "-go right ahead."

"A little faith, Harry," Cisco nodded with squinted eyes.

Harry could almost laugh out of frustration. "You don't get it! You don't _defeat_ Datura by fighting. You want to defeat her? You kill her and end her siphoning reign for good."

Each member of the team had gone wide-eyed, stunned, at Harry's blatant idea. Of course they didn't know that he was getting more and more frustrated as each day passed and he still didn't have his daughter with him. They didn't know that Datura and Zoom were on him to get the team's trust and eventually hand both Belén and Barry to them. They didn't know that.

"I...would like to exhaust all other options first," Belén eventually spoke up. She cleared her throat and looked at the others for some help. "Maybe we can continue on that search for something to neutralize Datura's siphoning for a couple minutes? Even one minute would suffice."

"Datura has multiple - and I mean _multiple_ \- powers at her fingertips. _Literally_ ," Harry rubbed his temples. "I-I mean...she's siphoned powers from other famous metas like-"

"-Harry, just stop," Belén instructed rather calmly despite the situation. "Just...walk me through this last bit: why does Datura specifically want _me_? What makes me so special that she would need to cross a world?"

Harry considered how best to answer this without saying all of the truth. "There was a rumor going on...back in my world...that...Datura was slipping."

"Slipping?" Belén repeated, eyes flickering to the others to see what they were beginning to think.

"Just odd disappearances for weeks. And then there was a period where there were corpses of metahumans possessing similar plantlike abilities to Datura that were being left behind."

"Could it be that she was looking for something within those plant-like metahumans?" Caitlin asked the most logical thing.

Cisco snorted in his chair. "Or she could've just been in the ' _I'm the only plant metahuman in this city_ ' phase."

"Then she would've killed Poison Ivy," Barry said.

"Unless they were in on it together."

"Okay!" Belén exclaimed to get the group back on track. "Thanks, Harry. I think...I'm just going...to take some air. Just...process." She offered the group one smile before she turned herself around and walked out.

She would need a lot of time to process what was coming.

~ 0 ~

Barry found Belén in Cisco's workshop just as she was purposely putting her ringing phone underneath a pile of papers.

"You're not going to answer that?" he asked, wondering who she was trying to avoid.

"It's my Mom, and if I turn the phone off it'll just give her more fuel for when she inevitably comes to argue with me," Belén sighed. It didn't sound like she was fueled herself for another argument. Time was Belén always had something to bicker about with her mother. Barry suspected it was because Belén had finally opened herself up for an actual relationship with her mother...

It just made Barry feel worse about the mother-daughter relationship dwindling into nothing. The fact it was all his fault could be another factor of his feelings right now. Belén didn't see it that way, of course, but he did. Veronica probably did too.

"She keeps calling," Belén said after a moment of silence. She was staring at her ringing phone on the desk, hands in her back pockets as if she were restraining herself from picking up the phone.

"Maybe she wants to talk," Barry offered an alternative he was sure she hadn't considered.

She snorted. "My Mom doesn't talk. She gives orders. She gives her opinions and then expects us not to say anything back. That's how she would treat us when we were kids, you know. And I mean, I get it, if I'm 6 years old I probably won't have a good opinion but...I'm not 6 anymore. I'm an adult. You'd think she know that."

Barry walked up to her and hugged her from behind. "I think we just have to talk to her again."

Belén shook her head again. "There's no point! Trust me! I know my mother and there's no getting through to her."

Barry quietly thought that Belén was going through the same thing. Like her mother, Belén was refusing to sway from her opinion about her mother. If the two weren't so stubborn, they could sit together and talk things through.

"I need to go train," Belén said quietly. She'd come in for some peace but it was clear she wouldn't be getting it until at least one of her problems was resolved. "Wanna come with me?"

Normally, Barry would have agreed in a heartbeat...but he felt like there was something he needed to do first. "I can't right now, but I'll meet you later okay?"

Belén didn't have the energy to question him so she just nodded. "Okay." She received his kiss on her cheek with a smile then headed out of the room.

As soon as she was gone, Barry took off too.

~ 0 ~

"What the hell are we doing here?" Poison Ivy eyed CC Picture News with disgust. She brought her foot off the roof-edge she and Datura were overlooking from and turned away from the street.

"Waiting for the bait of course," Datura was patiently waiting with an eerie smile on her face.

"Why? It'd be easier to just go straight for the target!"

"Except, if I know Belén - which I do - she might let her team talk her out of fighting and I don't want that. I literally cannot have that," Datura leaned closer as she spotted a dark-haired woman coming down the street. "So I have to take something she'll want to keep safe but at the same time something that won't be a lot of trouble to acquire."

"You got a bait in mind, then?"

Datura smirked as she straightened her body up. "Oh yeah." She brought her two feet over the roof ledge and waited for the right moment. Two seconds passed when she finally acted. She drew in deep breath and exhaled it in the form of a loud sonic scream that caused just the chaos she was looking for.

~ 0 ~

Barry sprinted into the precinct as soon as the elevators opened up. He went through the bullpen searching for the one detective he needed, but of course - with his luck - he didn't find her there.

"Hey, where's Veronica?" he stopped Joe as soon as he'd spotted the latter coming out of Singh's office.

Joe looked particularly confused with the question. "Why?"

"Because I need to talk to her."

"Bare, isn't this the same woman who hates you? I mean, that's all you've been saying right?"

Barry rolled his eyes at him. "Yeah, I know, I've been dramatic - I get it now. Now I want to make things right, for my sake and most importantly Belén's."

Barry seemed to say the right thing because Joe was suddenly smiling. "She was leaving papers in your lab. That Fallon Pipes case is cold as they come."

"For those who don't know who did it," Barry mumbled so that only Joe would hear. "Thanks." He made a quick go for his lab, hoping to catch Veronica in a solitary place to talk with ease.

This time, luck was on his side because Veronica was just setting papers on his desk when he came into the lab. As soon as she saw him, she cleared her throat and stepped away from the desk.

"I was just leaving things for you to look at."

"We need to talk, Ms. Green," Barry said directly. He would not waste time.

"What about?" Veronica pressed her blazer as if it was crumpled. She was nervous, that much Barry could already tell.

"You know exactly what and you know exactly why," Barry walked towards her and was prepared to block her way if she decided to make a getaway. "You hurt Belén and what's worse is you're letting her wallow in that pain. You know she was finally ready to have her mother back in her life and then you do her dirty-"

"-excuse you?" Veronica was quick to frown but this time Barry wasn't going to get nervous, he wasn't going to let her get the best of him again.

"She is your _daughter_ , and she needs you."

Veronica paused for a second. She eyed him as if she were deciding whether or not to believe his words. "She...does?"

"Yes!"

"Belén's never needed me. I made sure of that when I practically abandoned her and my other kids after the divorce," Veronica's words were laced with guilt. She crossed her arms over her chest and sighed. "She's only ever needed her father."

"But he's gone now. And trust me, Ms. Green, when I say that a child _always_ needs their mother." Barry knew exactly what he was talking about and Veronica knew it.

"...you needed her too?" she asked quietly.

"Always," Barry answered in the same tone. "I'm sorry that I'm the source of your disagreement with Belén, I am, but please don't let that drive you away from her again."

Veronica once again looked at him for a good minute - admittedly making Barry just a little nervous - until she decided to speak to make an admission she'd yet to say out loud. "It's not your fault, Barry. I am just incredibly talented at screwing things up with Belén."

Barry could honestly say he wasn't expecting that. "...what?" he blinked.

For the first time since Veronica met Barry, she smiled at him. It was a small smile, but Barry would take it. "Ever since I moved to this city, I've tried getting close to Belén but always end up making things worse. It's as if I don't know _how_ to be a mother anymore...and it serves me right for leaving them when they were still kids."

This, Barry could work with. It wasn't a Veronica who wanted to rule things and give orders. This was a Veronica who was just trying in her own way. It meant there was a solution somewhere. "Ms. Green, I do understand why you wouldn't want Belén to be with someone like me but...you gotta believe that I would _never_ let anyone hurt her because of me. I love her."

"Yeah..." Veronica could openly agree, even if it was in a whisper. "I love her too."

"So...can we _please_ find a way for us to be in each other's lives? Can you talk with Belén?" Barry almost put his hands together to plead, but now that he had Veronica's full attention he didn't want to risk it by looking childish.

Veronica drew in a deep breath, a breath that seemed to last forever for Barry, and ultimately nodded her head. "I'll try."

Barry beamed, but his happiness was short-lived when he got an alert from STAR Labs.

~ 0 ~

"Where is she!?" Barry demanded as soon as he got to STAR Labs. He turned to find Belén's Azalea suit missing from its stand. "What the hell happened!?"

Caitlin and Cisco were both rapidly working at the computers trying to locate Belén. Harry, on the other hand, was standing to the side looking tranquil as ever.

"Datura acted, that's what happened," Harry was the one to answer.

"There was an incident on a street with a sonic scream," Caitlin reported whilst conducting her locator search. "It had to be Datura."

"That scream took out three stores in one go, put down several people now in the ER, and she took one civlian," Cisco paused his work to meet Barry's eyes. The speedster dreaded what Cisco was going to say next. "Linda."

"Oh c'mon - not her again!" Barry knew their friend Linda was still trying to figure out the whole Dr. Light event; this would certainly not make it easy for her to forget things.

"I think it's kind of weird she targeted Linda," Caitlin admitted. None of the trio noticed Harry's stiffening on the side. "She didn't need the bait, and even if she did...why take Linda of all people?"

"You think she knows Linda is Dr. Light's doppelganger here?" asked Barry.

"Or maybe even that Linda is Belén's friend..." Caitlin hated to say because if that was true, it would mean Datura knew a lot more about Belén - just like Zoom knew more about Barry than they'd like.

"Okay, so where's Belén?"

"She turned off the GPS of her suit," Cisco replied. "But it can't stop us from doing a faical recognition of Linda. Wherever Linda is, chances are Belén will be too."

"And Datura, and Poison Ivy," Harry reminded them.

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder," Barry shook his head and zipped for his suit.

~0~

Linda had truly seen better days. But these last few days had _not_ been her best. There she was tied by the hands and ankles with rope while the entire park was deserted by the command of two metas. She was left to sit on a wooden bench.

"I don't get why you need me," Linda found the courage to speak. Poison Ivy was the one to stand in front of her at the moment. When she looked back at Linda, it appeared as if she were offended Linda was straight up speaking to her.

"You should consider yourself honored right now," the ginger meta said. "Your doppelganger failed to complete Zoom's task, but you will be able to help another of ours."

"What...honor..." Linda raised her binded wrists. "But you do know we have heroes who will come to help me."

Poison Ivy smiled into the view. "We're counting on it."

The first blow came from behind. Linda saw a decently-thick vine shoot from above and slam Poison Ivy face-first into the cemented ground. Linda actually winced when she heard the smack. When Linda opened her eyes again, she saw none other than the Azalea appearing in front of her.

"It's you-"

"You just need to get out of here," Belén put her hands over Linda's wrists to dissolve the ropes binding her.

"But you're alive!" Linda gawked in shock. "The article my friends and I wrote - we were _right_!"

"Yes, and now you need to leave-"

"-oh no, look around you. No one's leaving," Linda made Belén realize that while the immediate area was scarce of people, the was a crowd with flashing cellphone cameras watching them from a distance. "The Azalea is _alive_!"

"Not for long." An unfamiliar voice filled the air, making Belén's blood go cold once she realized that it hadn't been Poison Ivy who spoke. Because if it wasn't Poison Ivy...then it had to be...

"Scram, Linda Park," a dark-brunette commanded. Though her black mask covered everything but her lips and chin, Belén could practically see the evil radiating off Datura. "You played your part just right." Her voice dangerously darkened. "Now go!"

It was safe to say Linda was terrified. Belén pulled the reporter off the bench and ushered her away from the scene. Linda had no problem with that, but she definitely wasn't going to leave completely. Plus, she may have found someone familiar amongst the crowd.

Belén breathed in to calm her nerves on the inside. She turned completely to face the woman - _women_ since Poison Ivy had gotten up on her feet - and felt a chill go down her spine.

Datura was tall. Dark curls fell down to her chest. It was loose except for the one red datura sitting on the side of her head. Behind the mask Belén could see dark chocolate eyes and a vibrant red lipstick covering the woman's lips. Datura wore a black and red suit that honestly...looked like her personality. It was a long, black body suits with exposed sides and halter neck. A bright red, elastic waist corset covered her exposed sides and a black fishnet band over it. Her squared cutout sleeves went down to her wrists, tucked underneath black gloves. There was a red, circular chain belt draped around her hips. Red heeled boots were her choice of footwear, and when she walked they made the right menacing noise.

"You're her..." Belén said, unintentionally quiet.

A small smirk came to Datura's face. "All you need to do is quake in your shoes."

Belén detected a slight voice modulator in Datura's suit. Everything about the woman was a secret by the looks of it. It was a stark difference from her partner. Poison Ivy was a free as a bird. Her face - albeit slightly green - was out in plain sight for anyone to see.

"Are you just frozen or what?" Datura took a step forwards, and so Belén immediately took one back. Datura snickered and glanced at her partner with a triumphant smile. "She's at least decently smart." She then whipped her attention back to Belén, letting her curls bounce with the movement. "I was afraid you were a clear idiot."

_My God she's smug_ , Belén came to the conclusion a second later.

"Well, here we are, then," Datura made a gesture as if this were to be a grand show. And since there were plenty civilians out in the area, it could almost be. She purposely raised her voice to address the crowd watching them. "It took a lot but I finally forced your little Azalea to slither out of her hiding spot. Because I may be from another world but even _I_ heard how your 'hero' cowardly hid for months."

"I did _not_ hide from anyone," snapped Belén. She, too, turned to the watching crowd if only to clarify the reasons for her absence in the city. "I was _hurt_ _._ My powers needed to be properly controlled before I could help anyone else. I did it thinking about the safety of others."

"Aww," Datura clapped her hands together, even feigning a pout, "That is _so_ sweet." She turned back to Belén, dropping her hands to her sides. "But you and I both know that you are a coward. You are the lesser one - the weak one."

Poison Ivy cleared her throat and threw Datura an odd look that Belén caught. It made Datura pause in her streak of insults indefinitely. Before she could gather new words, a breeze picked up and suddenly Belén was no longer alone. She too had her partner at her side.

Barry now faced Datura and Poison Ivy with no intention of backing down. It did make Datura retract a step back to where her partner stood. It was almost strange, really.

"You shouldn't have gone off by yourself," Barry mumbled to Belén, not that she would care. He knew she did it on purpose - it was something he would do as well.

"I had to," Belén said matter-of-factly, eyes glued on Datura. "Because I needed to talk first."

Datura snorted loudly. " _Talk_? That's your move?" Her playfulness finished once she got started on her business. "You don't get it? You still want to be sweet and caring like I know your civilian self is? Honey that's not going to work with me."

Poison Ivy sensed her partner going off the fence. And it frankly startled her because it was taking so little...and yet she knew what sent Datura off.

Datura's eyes glimmered red as the same shade of red energy fired around her hands. "I am going to hunt you down like an animal!" She drew her arms back in preparation for a fire.

"Datura, wait-" Poison Ivy tried to shout but it was too late. Datura fired first and sent a wild streak of energy directly at the metas across them.

The targets jumped out of the way in time, but Barry saw the energy making way for some civilians and raced to get them to safety.

Datura, however, made no pause in her attacks. Even as Poison Ivy called out for her to stop, Datura raged in yellow-shimmering eyes. Electricity now crackled around her fingertips as she threw lightning bolts in Belén's way. Belén had to dodge multiple blows and if it weren't for her quick jumps with her vines she probably would've been ash by now.

Barry came back in a swirling circle until he too created his lightning bolt. Seeing what was coming her way, Datura raised her hands, forcing a chunk of the cement to rise with it and create the perfect barrier. Barry's lightning bolt shattered the cement to pieces, but Datura was otherwise left unharmed.

Until Belén made her own comeback.

The Azalea came with a vine striking down across Datura's face. Datura's body actually made turnover as she landed with a tumble on the ground. Belén then captured Datura's ankles with two more vines she would use to slide the woman's body like a ragdoll.

Seeing that, Poison Ivy had to act. She raised her own hand to intervene but Barry started running back and forth in front of her, forcing her to back away and fight him instead.

Datura growled almost like an animal would. "I'm not that easy to beat!" she shouted and threw a gooey orange at the vines around her then at Belén herself.

In just a second Belén started feeling the burning sensation on her neck. It was _acid_. She remembered that type of pain from her ex-boyfriend's kidnapping where he too possessed those powers. Belén screamed at the same time the vines she had on Datura sizzled into nothing.

"It's _hot_ isn't it?" Datura smiled maniacally with orange eyes. Her voice was now overlapped with another, making it sound like two people were speaking. "Courtesy of Acidton. He wasn't very clever with names but his powers were wondrous. Here: have another taste!"

Belén had somewhat lowered the burning on her skin and covered herself when Datura attacked again. Her vines were quick to go dissolve but she was just as fast to rebuild them.

Barry passed by with his own target but his pass did allow for a quick punch on the face, forcing Datura back on the ground. Poison Ivy became even more infuriated with him and threw a vine like a lasso to catch him.

Belén smirked and ran straight for Datura. If the woman was so keen on using powers then she would do the opposite. Oliver Queen's words of wisdom came back to her for a moment: never rely on your powers to get you through a fight. That seemed to be exactly what Datura was doing.

_Because she's so smug_ , Belén thought.

Datura was just getting back on her feet when Belén arrived with a roundhouse kick where she felt a particular satisfaction hearing a bone in Datura's neck make a crack. Datura growled as soon as she could then raised her head.

"You're _dead_!" Datura unleashed the newest power she'd garnered on Earth 1. Her sonic scream proved to be deadly as Belén was thrown backwards. "Now that I know what you can do, I'll tell you right now you're the perfect candidate for what I need!"

"And what...would that be?" Belén started picking herself up.

"Dying!"

"But why _me_? Why cross to another world just to look for me?" It was the one question Belén wished she could have answered. Why her? Of all people, why did it have to be her the one who was going to be hunted?

Datura smirked for a moment when she knew the fear that creeping over Belén. _Good_. She wanted Belén to sink in it, to let it consume her. "Because fate wanted it like that. Now you can rise up all you want but the truth is it won't matter. I _will_ hunt you. I _will_ kill you, and while Zoom kills off your partner...I'll make sure to kill your friends."

"No you won't!" Belén exclaimed and gathered new energy to fight again.

"I promise you I will." Datura did the same and threw her sonic scream again, this time nonstop.

Belén crashed against a park bench and as much as tried getting up she just couldn't with the sonic waves forcing her down.

"Azalea!" Barry stopped fighting with Poison Ivy, allowing himself to be thrown into the park fountain at the same time.

But even Poison Ivy stopped once she realized the duration of Datura's sonic scream. She turned away from Barry, seeming to forget the speedster as he climbed out of the fountain. "Datura, stop!"

Datura's body shook as she forced herself to scream and scream.

"Datura!" Poison Ivy took a few quick steps towards her relentless partner. "I said STOP!"

But Datura ignored her. Her body hunched over as its air seemed to decrease by the second. The ferocity of her sonic scream was deadly, allowing no room for interference.

Belén had to cover her ears in hopes of keeping them from falling off. If Datura kept it up, she would die or at the very least go deaf. She raised her head as much as she could to face her attacker and was quite surprised to see blood dripping from Datura's nose. It didn't make a difference for Datura as she kept going, but it was a clear struggle that no one could deny.

"DATURA, STOP!" Poison Ivy was about to use a vine when...it stopped.

The sonic scream stopped out of nowhere. The only noise was the one Datura made as if she'd finally ran out of air and was about to choke. Poison Ivy ran towards her partner, catching Datura before she would fall on her knees.

"I told you not to!" Poison Ivy scolded her, but even when Datura tried to respond...she had no voice. "You idiot!" Poison Ivy reached for something in Datura's side pocket. It was a small silver device that...opened up a breach. It engulfed the two women and disappeared with them.

"You're kidding me..." Belén released a heavy sigh once she was able to stand without the fear of dying.

But she knew that even though they'd won it was far from being over.

"Hey," Barry finally joined her side again. His body ached but he was sure it was nothing compared to hers.

"I need Caitlin," even Belén admitted, hoping that the doctor herself was listening in on the comms. so that she would get things started.

"I know," Barry slipped an arm around her waist, about to take them away when he remembered something. "But hey, they know you're back. And I think that's something good."

Belén glanced over her shoulder and did see the crowd of civilians still watching them. They didn't look angry, if anything they looked concerned for her but...she smiled at them.

And everything seemed okay.

~ 0 ~

Veronica knocked on Belén's apartment door a couple times before someone opened up. Of course when Belén opened up, she hadn't been expecting her mother's surprise visit.

"Mom..."

"Oh my God what happened to you!?" Veronica panicked at the sight of the heavy gauze patches around Belén's neck. Datura's acid proved to be a menace.

"I-I'm fine, just work trouble..." Belén quickly turned away and made a way for the living room.

"What kind of work trouble causes _that_!?" Veronica went after her.

"Mom, it's fine. I promise. Is there something you needed?" Belén was not, to be honest, in the mood to argue with her mother. She was still a little sore from her fight the previous day, and the last thing she wanted was to emotionally exhaust herself too.

"I..." Veronica remembered her plan and she had to force herself not to ruin it with Belén's new injuries. "I came to talk."

"About what?"

"Myself...and you...starting with an apology."

Now that piqued Belén's interest. Her eyes widened for a moment, and though there was some doubt...she ultimately allowed Veronica to go on. "What are you apologizing for?"

"My behavior at our dinner. What I said about Barry was...out of place. I understand it was hard to hear-"

"-mom, what you said was just plain awful."

"I know, and I still worry about it being true and you getting harrassed or something-"

"-with all due respect, mom...if anyone were to tell me something about Barry's parents I would kindly punch them in the face." Belén's seriousness was a bit startling for Veronica, but she supposed it was only logical given Belén's feelings for Barry. "Cussing them out too is the only thing I'd think about. Do I do that first or afterwards?"

Instead of being scandalized, Veronica smiled. It made Belén wonder for a second. She hardly saw her mother smile.

"I guess you do love him," Veronica finally realized. "Once upon a time I nearly told your Nona Enger off too."

Hearing about her favorite grandmother always made Belén smile a little. In this case, she was surprised to hear her mother ever considering cussing someone out. "Really?"

"Your father's mother hated me when we were dating. The only reason I held my tongue was because of your father."

"Well...as much as I loved my Nona..." Belén crossed her arms, "...I wouldn't keep my feelings bottled in. If it concerns someone I love, I _will_ say something."

"And that's what you did with me," Veronica nodded. She drew in a deep breath that she exhaled a minute later. "In retrospect, I think you and Barry are much braver than your father and I ever were. Barry came to talk to me, almost begging me to talk with you again."

"Course he'd do that," Belén mumbled, biting her lip while she decided whether or not she'd smack Barry or kiss him for his endeavor.

"I owe you an apology, Belén. I can't come back to your life after so many years expecting things to be the same as when you were a kid. If you'd let me, I would still very much like to be in your life again," Veronica hoped that her honesty, and her daughter's heart, would be enough to give her another opportunity.

"Mom, I would love to have you around. I've told you that...but if this is going to work, you can't treat me like a child," Belén warned, though she smiled as she said it. "I'm not a kid. I'm an adult. If you remember that, we'll be golden."

Veronica actually laughed a true laugh. "Belén, please be serious!"

"I am!"

Veronica only stopped laughing when they heard a knocking on the door. "I guess I should go, then. But...are we good?"

Belén nodded her head. "Yeah, Mom." She walked up to her mother and gave her an honest hug. Veronica smiled and hugged her daughter back until the knocking started again.

Waiting on the other side was Barry and Iris, the two looking all smiley until they saw Veronica.

"Did we-" the two began looking quite guilty but Veronica raised a hand to stop them.

"I was just leaving." She moved around them and headed down the hallway.

"Are you guys okay?" Iris asked once she and Barry moved into the apartment.

"All good," Belén closed the door behind them. She walked directly up to Barry and kissed him.

" _Okay_ ," Iris made a face and went to the couch to put down her purse and the folder she'd been carrying.

"What was that for?" asked Barry once Belén pulled away. "Not that I'm complaining, though."

Belén smiled at him. "I know you talked to my Mom."

"Oh...listen, Bells, I was only trying to help-"

"-and you did, clearly. So thanks for that," Belén gave him another kiss then brought him to the living room. "And to what do I owe this visit?"

"Just checking up on you," Iris said, though something about her tone implied there was something else they were there for. "Everyone at CC Pictures thinks you've got the flu, but I have to admit we're gonna have to talk to Linda. Poor girl's still traumatized from the Dr. Light incident and now she has the story of being kidnapped by Datura."

"But don't worry," Barry eyed Iris, warning her not to give too much of that negativity. "We're going to figure it out. Right now you just gotta take it easy."

"I'm fine, guys. These acid marks-" Belén motioned to her neck, "-are healing. Caitlin says I'll only have to wear them for a few more days. Whatever properties were in Datura's acid were just a little stronger than what my body can heal."

"Well for now, there's no sightings of Datura or Poison Ivy so please just rest." Iris knew that would be impossible. Now that they'd met Datura, they were even more worried with her plans.

"She's crazy not stupid," Belén sighed. "She knows not to show up for a few days. She'll be back, though. She made that clear."

"Don't worry," Barry slipped an arm around her waist. "We'll be ready for her."

"We better be because she nearly kicked my ass in round 1. She's a lot stronger than what I thought," Belén admitted. "She only used a handful of powers on me and that was enough to bring me down. If she unleashes all the powers she's siphoned...God help us."

"She's not God," Barry reminded. He'd already been thinking of the situation, the fight they had, and everything they'd learned about Datura firsthand. "She switches her powers around. And that last bit with the sonic scream? She over exerted herself. She _has_ weaknesses. We just need to find them."

"And while you do that, I do come bearing some good news," Iris was happy to report. She picked up the folder she left on the couch and pulled out a few papers for Belén to see. "I wrote this last night."

Belén took the papers and looked at the front cover. An immediate smile came to her face when she saw a picture of the Azalea at her recent appearance. "How'd you...?"

"I was at the park guys," Iris ignored their stunned looks. "I wasn't going to miss out on the biggest scoop. I want the honor of writing about the Azalea's return. If you want...I'd like to have an interview with you so that you can clarify why you were gone. I think the people are curious."

"I'd love to do that!" Belén didn't think twice in saying.

"Bells, are you sure you want to do that right now, though?" Barry asked, concerned she'd over exert herself too.

"Barry, I'm fine! If anything, doing this would really raise my spirits," Belén pulled Iris to the couch and sat down with her. "We can do it right now! And you-" she looked at Barry, "-can bring me some Fettuccine Alfredo for lunch?"

"Are you serious?" Barry raised an eyebrow, partially amused with her sudden request.

"What? I'm Italian. I need my pasta!"

"I'll take one too," Iris raised a finger, offering Barry a cheeky smile knowing he'd have to go get it anyways.

"Fine!" the speedster huffed and sped off to find the dang pasta.

~ 0 ~

**Earth 2: Central City.**

"Idiot." Poison Ivy would continue to repeat that word until she would get tired of it and come up with something new for Datura's actions.

Datura, however, seemed at ease with herself. She carelessly sat on a wooden table, looking pretty comfy in their greenhouse. "So I lost the sonic scream, big deal. I can get it off the Siren bitch any day I want."

"That's not the point," growled Poison Ivy. "You shouldn't have lost it! You shouldn't have fought like that with Belén! We were only there for measuring and we could've done it without so much chaos."

Datura's eyes flashed a wicked red. "Maybe I just realized that I hate her more than I thought," she spoke in an overlapped voice. "I despise her."

"That's not hatred. That's anger," Poison Ivy snapped. "Two different things for two different reasons and you know it."

Datura's eyes returned to normal, as did her voice. She looked away as if she were a child being chastised. "So what? I can hate and be angry at the same time. Besides, all this gave me a new idea."

Poison Ivy raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What is it?"

"Belén lives a perfect life with her friends, and Barry, and her family...let's ruin it," Datura hopped off the table with a fresh new smirk on her face. "Let's make her live the perfect dream and then break it with a nightmare."

Poison Ivy started smiling once she got more into the idea. "Alright...you got my attention. Where do we start?"

"Mercury Labs. They have the tech we need," Datura led the way out of the greenhouse again.

Poison Ivy quietly exhaled and followed her partner out. Well, if there was one thing she could say about Datura was that she did not give up easily.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Well this chapter was a doozy to write! I cannot tell you how long I spent staring at this fight scene. I wasn't sure if it was good enough because...c'mon, it's the first meet between Belén and Datura. I hoped I nailed it! But if not then there's still more fights to come!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


	7. At Odds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belén and Barry come to odds with their plans to fight against Zoom for the first time.

"Just let me go. Let me disappear," Dr. Light pleaded from her prison pod. She probably sounded like a broken record but it didn't matter to her. Ever since the team decided to try to reason with her, all she kept saying was to be freed so she could hide from Zoom. Unfortunately for her, they weren't having it.

"You would spend the rest of your life looking over your shoulder, never knowing when Zoom is coming," Barry meant to serve as a reminder but all Dr. Light did was shrug. "Okay, how were you supposed to contact him after you killed me?"

"I was supposed to get something... something I could only get if you were dead... and then throw it through the breach as proof," Light explained.

"And then what?"

"Then he'd come for me. Confirm the kill and bring me home," Light exasperatedly sighed. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because I want to find him."

"You really don't," Light said with widened, alarmed eyes.

"He's gonna keep coming for me. He's gonna keep kidnapping people like you, forcing them to do what he wants," Barry shook his head. "I have to stop him before more people die."

"You can't stop Zoom. Okay, everyone on my Earth knows that Zoom wants the Flash from another world," Light shook her head fiercely. "You're not getting away. He has plans."

"Among those is the Siphoner?" Belén walked into the pipeline, throwing Barry a look for his secret meeting with the metahuman.

"It's only a matter of time until she comes," Light warned quietly, her voice indicating she was as much afraid of Datura as she was of Zoom.

"Well too late," Belén crossed her arms, "She's already here." Her revelation seemed to freeze Light in her spot. Fear accumulated in her eyes, making the other two metas almost feel sorry for her.

"You _have_ to let me go!" Light pounded a fist against the pod. "If Datura is here it means Zoom knows I failed. She's going to siphon me or kill me!"

"Then help us take them down before they do any more harm," Barry still tried to reason with her, hoping that her fear would somehow help her see they were her only option now.

But Light refused. "Whatever you're planning, it's not going to work. Because if you somehow manage to escape Zoom's speed, you won't escape Datura's touch. A lot of us have tried and they're dead."

"We'll see," Barry meant it as a challenge.

~ 0 ~

"Zoom wants Doctor Light to send him your new emblem…" Caitlin repeated after hearing the story. It actually made sense in the villain's perspective, but since none of them were villains it just sounded plain crazy.

"Yes. We need it for bait," Barry glanced momentarily at his suit sitting on the display. "If we can get Doctor Light to take my emblem, throw it through the breach, then Zoom will come to collect my body, and we can trap him."

Cisco wasn't happy with that idea. "You know it took a lot of work to make that emblem, right?"

"Am I the only one who remembers that she tried to kill Linda just to escape Zoom?" Caitlin decided to input in case they truly had forgotten that crucial detail.

"Linda sure hasn't," Belén snorted.

"Look, I know we can get her to help us," Barry could almost promise it was the case. "She's rational, she'll see it's the only way."

"Before I left Earth-2, I worked on a serum to dampen Zoom's speed. All we would need is for Ramon to develop a weapon to deliver it," Harry shared.

"Oh, great, that could be this year's cold gun," Belén shot Cisco a warning look that he shouldn't even try it. "Maybe another criminal can get it, and then we'd have Sergeant Slow."

"I would never let that happen. Sergeant Slow is a terrible name," Cisco flatly responded with.

"Are we forgetting how much more powerful than Barry Zoom seems to be?" Caitlin looked at them incredulously. "I mean, if Barry can catch bullets, what's to say Zoom can't catch whatever you shoot at him?"

"Surprise... the element of surprise," Harry laid it out for them. "All we would do is rig a projectile to fire as Zoom crosses into the breach. He can't stop what he can't see coming."

"That's great," Barry was relieved to see that someone was at least following through with the idea.

"Thanks."

Caitlin shook her head. "Joe, voice of reason here?"

"We need a plan," Joe agreed on some level. "That's as good as any. As long as he can deliver."

"Don't underestimate me, Detective," Harry pointed and walked out of the cortex to get started on the task ahead.

Barry's phone went off and when he checked it he saw Patty's name on the ID. "Oh, Patty needs us back at the station," he told Joe.

Joe nodded. "I'll meet you there, all right?"

Barry agreed and took a head start with Belén.

~0~

"Hey," Iris stopped by Belén's desk at work. She put down a coffee for Belén and then took a seat at the edge of Belén's desk. "I didn't know you'd be coming in today."

"Yeah well, since my endeavors to get stronger, I've been neglecting my work," Belén reached for the cup of coffee. "I can't afford to get fired."

Linda came by rather nervously, and Belén knew once again what the reason was for her detour. "Hey. Have you had any word from The Flash about the meta-human that attacked us? Or the other one that got to me? Look at me, I have to keep count on who kidnaps me."

"Linda, I promise you that you'll be safe," Belén sighed. She knew it would take Linda a good amount of time before she could feel normal again, what with Dr. Light and Datura kidnapping her...

"Still...I'd just feel better if I could talk to, um...the Azalea? Or the Flash?"

"Linda, I don't think that's a good idea…"

"It's not that I don't believe you!" Linda exclaimed. "I just...I want answers, Belén. Why does that woman look like me? Knowing there's a metahuman with my face on who likes to nearly kill people makes it really hard for me to concentrate on field goals and doping scandals. And then I've got that new plant meta to think about? I don't want to sit around being told not to worry my pretty little head about it."

Belén acknowledged Linda's feelings and sighed. "I get that. Believe me, I do."

"Then tell the Azalea and Flash that I want to talk to them. I bet you can get the message across to the Flash. _Please_ ," Linda said, then added, "Iris says he'll listen to you no matter what because of that crush."

Had it not been because they were in public, Belén would have smacked Iris again for that. It definitely didn't help that Iris was smirking.

"I will...try my best," Belén forced herself to say in one go. Soon as Linda was gone though, she hit Iris on the arm. "I'm going to kill you for ever telling that to Linda."

"Sorry," Iris honestly apologized. "When I did that, I didn't know it was Barry. So really, this is your fault."

"Oh, yeah, my bad!" Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

~0~

After getting word of Dr. Light making a run for it, the group gathered at STAR Labs to figure out what exactly enabled her to do it.

"Doctor Light managed to hack into the lights of her cell. The whole building runs on fiber optics that operate on pulses of light, so she turned off the dampeners and used her powers," Cisco reviewed what he learned from the mechanics.

"And made herself invisible?" Belén glanced at the full costume Light had left behind for them. "That's possible?"

"Apparently," Cisco mumbled.

"I told you how dangerous she was," Harry was beyond mad with them. It wasn't like he had warned them about Light - oh wait, he _had_. "You should have listened to me and sedated her."

"I thought we would be able to convince her that helping us was the only way she'd free herself from Zoom," Barry argued.

"Well, you thought wrong!"

"Yeah. Okay, look, Doctor Light is gone, so instead of assigning blame, let's try to figure out what we're gonna do next," Joe cut in before they went any further.

"Do you think she's gonna try and take Linda again?" Belén worried over her friend who, at the moment, probably didn't know much.

"I had Iris bring Linda to the house, just in case, to keep an eye on her," Barry informed her to ease her concerns. "How are we doing with the speed-dampener?" he asked the others.

"I think we isolated the composite…" Caitlin began, still sounding unsure with this plan.

"And we're modifying the dart the Arrow used to take down Wells," Cisco added.

Harry was growing close to hitting something if they kept using that line. "He's not Wells. _I'm_ Wells!"

"Whatever, Harry," Cisco sarcastically retorted in a louder voice.

"Okay, but we don't even really know if this thing works?" Joe asked just to be sure he was hearing all this craziness.

"Until we try it, no. This will be a field test, so can we end this scintillating staff meeting and get back to work?" Harry motioned he would at least continue with work while everyone else continued to talk.

"Or how about I say what everybody's thinking?" Joe challenged. "Maybe it's a good thing that Doctor Light is gone. Maybe it's the universe stopping us from doing something really stupid."

Caitlin made an agreeing gesture, and honestly Belén was close to doing the same. They had learned the hard way they couldn't just come up with any old, fast plan against Zoom.

"No. No," Barry said loudly. "Keep going. I'm gonna figure out another way to get Zoom."

"A-are you sure?" Belén had to ask, stopping him before he could leave. "Couldn't we come up with something we could all agree with?"

"We don't have the time," Barry sounded rhetorical. Did no one understand they couldn't have the luxury to sit down like a group and discuss their options? Options that were already little to begin with?

When Barry actually left the room, Belén released a sigh. "We can't just go through without calculating. I'm not the cop, I shouldn't have to tell him this."

"I've got you," Joe promised and went after Barry.

~0~

Later that day, Belén stopped by her childhood home to pick up one of the last boxes she meant to take to her new apartment. As she walked in, she found her mother working at the living room, unbeknownst to Belén it was with the papers Veronica had taken from the precinct earlier in the day.

"Mom, hey," Belén greeted and shut the door.

"Hi," Veronica seemed entranced with whatever she was reading at the moment.

"Where's Axel?" Belén searched for her nephew in the quiet room.

"Oh, out in the garden. What did you need?"

"Just coming to make another trip," Belén left her bag at the side table and walked up behind the couch. "What's all that?" she pointed to the mess of papers on the coffee table.

"Information on some old metahuman cases."

Belén raised an eyebrow at her mother, now noticing there were several manila folders spread around the coffee table. "Why are you looking at old meta cases?"

"Because there's some things not adding up, that's why," Veronica said so matter-of-factly one could believe it was just a casual thing she was doing.

"What?" frowned Belén. "What do you mean?"

Veronica sighed as she raised her gaze from her work. "There are several metas that the cops never found but the Flash and the Azalea did yet there are no arrest papers anywhere. Am I to assume the precinct just let it go?"

"Well, what does it matter? The metas were caught-"

"-what matters is that they were not brought to justice in the correct way," Veronica closed the file on her lap. "Does the CCPD let these super heroes take justice into their own hands? _We_ are the cops. These metahumans should be in Iron Heights. And do you know the most significant thing I've discovered in all these cases?"

"Humor me," sighed Belén, figuring she wouldn't win this argument.

"Every single case has been handled by Joe West, with your boyfriend's signature right along the papers."

"Well...I would deem that normal since Barry is the only CSI at that precinct," Belén tried to be casual, and perhaps a tad sarcastic just to make it sound like she wasn't nervous. "I'd be surprised if he hadn't signed anything."

"These cases all have odd details, Belén. If it's not the fact there's no arrests, it's the fact that Joe's overseeing is everywhere on these cases. Does he only do meta cases that involve the Flash and the Azalea?"

"What?" Belén nervously laughed. "I don't know how case selection works. _Do_ you choose your own case or-"

Veronica raised a hand to stop Belén from going further. "I'm beginning to think there's some secrets at this precinct. I'll have to keep digging."

"But Mom-"

Veronica got up from the couch and headed for the kitchen. "Are you staying for dinner? I'll get Axel and we cant try this new recipe I found online..."

Belén didn't listen to her mother in the end. She just kept wondering how complicated this would all get if her mother didn't stay away from meta cases. It could land Veronica into dangerous trouble with the newest metas in the city...as well as causing more conflicts between her and Barry and the Wests.

~0~

When Barry returned home the last thing he was expecting was to have the entire house smelling of a mixture of meals. He spotted Iris standing by the dining room that was filled with said mixture of meals.

"Are you guys having a dinner party?" for a moment he thought maybe he'd missed one of Iris' planned sleepovers.

"You would think," Iris crossed her arms and waited for Linda to return from the kitchen. Seconds later, Linda came by holding yet another pot of food.

"I know, I know. It's just, sometimes cooking helps me to relax," she profusely apologized to them both. She knew she was running them dangerously close to nothing in the pantries. "Have you heard anything about Doctor Light? Or that Datura? Am I still in danger?"

"We're not really sure…" Barry felt bad lying to her but they couldn't tell her much.

"Come on. I'm going crazy here, Barry."

"Yeah, she is," Iris nodded to the table full of meals.

Linda gasped when the oven timer went off. "That's the cake! Hope you're hungry."

"She's not kidding," Iris leaned off the table and started making way for the couch. "There's enough food in there to feed an army."

"She must be terrified," Barry misread the situation.

"Uh, more like furious. Someone nearly died because of this metahuman who so happens to look like her. And then she was used as bait in front of the entire city? I mean, trust me. If Linda had Doctor Light's powers right now…"

Barry suddenly raised his head with an incoming idea.

"What?" Iris recognized that as his thinking face.

"I just, uh, Linda and Light...they're identical. So identical that Light even thought she could fool Zoom. Now we have Light's suit." Barry stopped when Iris said nothing. "You don't even have to say anything, I know. It's a terrible idea."

"Well…" Iris tilted her head. "No, not really. We make Zoom think that Linda is Doctor Light and use her to draw him out."

"It's too dangerous, right?"

Iris would have said yes, but this was something neither could decide. "Let Linda decide. I mean, she's desperate to catch the person with her face who's terrorizing people, and she deserves the chance to help us."

"Okay," Barry smiled and started to tell her how it would work for Linda to help them.

~ 0 ~

Deciding to show up to Linda as the Flash, Linda was given the chance to try and help them set a trap for Zoom. Linda didn't think twice before agreeing to help. The idea was for her to pretend to be Dr. Light and have a fake fight with Barry where she would 'win' and hand over his suit's emblem as proof of his defeat.

"Where are they?" Belén walked into the training room where Linda would shortly be out to practice. She wasn't happy and that was evident as soon as someone saw her face. "I cannot believe - oh hell no." She had stopped beside a couple of cardboard cut outs near Cisco who was on top of a small scaffold. "Cisco, why is there a cut out of _me_?"

Cisco looked over the rail and grinned. "They're practice targets. Don't worry though, yours aren't the target."

"I was a bit more creeped out on the part where my friend keeps cardboard cut outs of me," Belén crossed her arms.

"It's important to have hobbies," Cisco turned over another cut out he was in the process of hanging. It turned out to be himself holding a camera while striking an odd pose of him sticking his tongue out.

Belén blinked emotionlessly for a second. "I fear for your future wife," she shared and walked away. She spotted Barry with Iris from a distance, the former donning his red suit, and so Belén made a direct beeline for them. "What is going on here!?" she asked them soon as they could hear. "Linda is doing what now!?"

"It's okay-" Iris began when Belén cut her off with a sarcastic 'really'.

"Having our friend who has no powers put herself on the line is not okay in my book!" Belén then glanced at Barry. "And was it really smart of you to show up like that?" she gestured to his appearance. "You outed yourself...ish."

"We don't have time to think of something else," he shrugged. "Besides, it can work, Bells."

"That's my friend," Belén said quietly. "I have known her for years. I can't even think about it if something happened to her because she got caught up in this."

"Hey," Barry took her into a hug, "I won't let that happen. I promise." Belén relaxed a bit but she still wasn't entirely on board with this idea. She felt like Barry was rushing into this without all the connections being made.

"This is ridiculous," they heard Linda coming in. Caitlin walked beside her in the costume that gave her the image of Dr. Light.

"Linda," Belén pulled away from Barry, blinking as she studied the new appearance of their friend.

"Belén, hey," Linda was relieved to see she'd been contacted. While she was comfortable with Iris, she had known Belén far longer and truly trusted her.

"You look...just like Doctor Light," Belén looked Linda over.

"I feel ridiculous," Linda admitted and hugged herself.

"You're fine," Caitlin assured and held out a pair of black gloves. Linda took them rather confused and looked at them for some explanation. "And with these gloves that Cisco rigged up, you'll be able to do what Light does."

"Oh...great," Linda said nervously as she began to put the gloves on.

"I'm gonna go make sure everything's been set up," Caitlin said and headed for the elevated platform where they would be monitoring Linda's practice session. Iris followed behind her, and soon enough went Barry as well.

"Linda, I'm sorry," Belén felt the need to apologize to her friend. However, Linda didn't understand only took a double-take at her in response. "I didn't know that...Flash, was going to pull this. Rest assured I would not have let him."

"What? No!" Linda exclaimed. "I'm glad Iris took me to him. Though I'm a bit surprised that Iris knows him too?" Belén's eyes widened for a moment but Linda, thankfully, went ahead and made her own assumption. "I guess that comes as a perk when you're the daughter's cop, hm?"

"Yes!" Belén didn't think twice in confirming. "Exactly."

Linda smiled and started walking with her towards the platform. She fixed the gloves on her hands and thought to ask whether or not these were pretty safe.

"They should be," Belén glanced at Cisco on the platform. "Right?"

"Totally," Cisco said without thinking.

"Ish," Harry said instead, freezing both women below.

"What?" Belén raised both her eyebrows.

"Well, come on, it's gotta be believable," Cisco tried to reason with them, "so they really do fire and explode things."

"Hm…"

"And you-" Cisco then pointed at Barry, "-are going to have to let her hit you with those blasts when she gets the hang of it."

"Please don't kill him," Belén then mumbled to Linda.

"Okay, the suit can absorb the blasts," Cisco said for her comfort, and probably Barry who wasn't looking so excited either.

"For real or 'ish'?" Belén crossed her arms. "Because let me tell you the difference between those two."

"Okay, you know what? I like to think I can see the bright side of things, okay?" Cisco got snappish with her as well. "Positivity, people," he clapped his hands and went back to work.

Barry gestured to Linda to follow him down the room where Cisco and Joe had set up several cardboard cut outs of themselves. "So just hit the ones of me. Okay?"

Linda nodded. "Got it. Great." She took several steps towards the cutouts, mumbling to herself to get prepared. "Doctor Light…" she took a deep breath and thrust a hand forwards to shoot. Soon as she did, however, she felt the gloves sort of take control and shot relentlessly. "Oh! Oh!" she stumbled back on her feet while the gloves continued shooting. Barry caught her from behind and thankfully put an end to the glove fiasco.

"Uh, you know what? I'm just gonna adjust those a little!" Cisco snatched a nearby screwdriver from the platform and rushed towards Linda who more than terrified now.

"Just...okay, so, um, do the opposite of that, and we'll have it," Barry gave a light pat on Linda's arm, figuring she was probably a little discouraged now.

Later, when Cisco promised that the gloves would not malfunction, they gave it another try. Linda led the way slowly searching for the right cut outs to shoot at. She nearly shot a couple of the 'civilians' but she did manage to shoot some of the right ones.

"Yes!" Linda cheered excitedly after shooting the first right cut out of the Flash. "I did it!" she turned back to her friends. "Did you see that?"

"Yeah!" Barry was equally happy to see her beginning to get the hang of it. The two went to do a high-five but Linda's glove accidentally went off and fired straight at the platform. Poor Cisco was blasted backwards to the floor.

"Oh my God!" Linda gasped. Cisco rolled to his side then sat right up, looking pretty annoyed. "Sorry?"

"She's gonna kill you," Belén quietly said to Barry, meaning all kindness for her friend. "And when she does... _I'm_ going to kill you."

"C'mon…" Barry tried to be optimistic, but everyone else seemed to agree with Belén's perspectives.

After dispatching Linda with Iris, the group met back in the cortex to discuss the day.

"Okay, no offense to Linda, but there is no way she can pull this off," Caitlin honestly didn't mean to sound rude.

"Well, maybe if she didn't scream every time she fired," Cisco shook his head.

"Okay, Linda had a rocky start, but she can pull this off," Barry continued firm, apparently, despite everyone going against it. "I know she can. All right, did you find someplace near breach where we don't have to worry about civilians getting in the way?"

Against his better judgement, Cisco answered him. "Yeah, there's a place by the docks that's usually deserted at night."

"Awesome. Cait, how are we doing with the speed-dampener?"

"My tests indicate that it should work," Caitlin answered rather doubtfully as well.

"It _will_ work," Harry was the only one who seemed to share Barry's persistence in the plan. "I'll tune up Ramon's gloves, make sure they work better."

"Okay great," Barry nodded as the other man started to leave.

"Wait, so we're actually going through with this?" Belén's eyes flickered from one person to the next.

"Yeah, we're doing this," Barry said, confused.

"Uuum…" Belén trailed off waiting to see if he would make the connection but apparently she hadn't been too clear. "We _can't_! Linda is _not_ ready for this - hell, I don't even think _we're_ ready for whatever plan you have in that big head of yours!"

"Bells, we don't have the time-"

"We _need_ to have the time," Belén snapped. "I went up against Datura on a whim and I got my ass handed to me! Now my friend is going to be out there, risking her life to help us. The least you can do is be truly calculating and have a right plan."

Barry was giving her an incredulous stare for her sudden outburst. He couldn't believe she actually was doing that. Yes, she did make some sense but he made sense too. They didn't have the luxury of time. "We _have_ this-"

"No, we don't," Belén shook her head frantically. "And I'm a little worried, honestly, that you're so hellbent on getting Zoom against everything. I...I can't go through with it." She decided that upon seeing that Barry wasn't exactly going to back down anytime soon. Waving her hands, she signaled she was sticking to her decision and leaving the place.

One would think that would be enough to put Barry straight, but he proved to be severely persistent. Now Joe thought enough was enough, and decided to add onto Belén's thoughts. However he would do it privately.

"I can't believe we're still on this, Barry," Joe gave a deep sigh and crossed his arms once Caitlin and Cisco had left them the cortex.

"Belén will get over it, but this is our only chance to get Zoom," Barry said truthfully. He thought that perhaps Belén was a bit too close to Linda and that's why she wasn't seeing what he was: the perfect chance to get Zoom.

"You saw what happened in there. Linda's not ready," Joe hoped to open his eyes.

"She _is_ ," Barry argued. "She's ready enough."

"Why are you pushing this!?"

Barry couldn't believe he was actually going to have this conversation. "What... why do you think? I want to get him!"

"Get who, exactly?"

"Is that a real question?"

"You tell me. I'm... I'm not sure this is even about Zoom, honestly," Joe admitted. "I'm starting to feel like you're still chasing the Reverse Flash."

"Reverse Flash is dead," Barry flatly said, finding no relevance in this.

"Yeah, but after all he did to you, you weren't the one that stopped him."

"We all worked together-"

"Yeah, and Eddie got him in the end," Joe reminded. "I mean, did that make you feel cheated, like you didn't get your revenge, and stopping Zoom is the next best thing?" Barry remained silent and for a moment couldn't look Joe in the eyes. "Belén is right. If you're gonna ask people like Linda to risk their lives, you better be sure of exactly why they're doing it. Otherwise, call it off."

With those words, he left Barry to think.

~ 0 ~

Belén thought nothing would help her distract herself than by working. So, she had thought to continue with her unpacking . And she did that...until she felt her arms would fall off for trying to put together a side table. Thanking the heavens that she had brought along one of her couches already, she plopped down and grabbed her laptop to hopefully continue an article she was meant to turn in by the end of the week. Trying to write proved difficult after spending a good thirty minutes coming up with about three sentences. Her attention, however, was drawn to the jiggling of her door's knob.

Thinking it was perhaps a burglar, Belén stopped her writing and began preparing for a fight.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel, instead, came running in after Veronica opened the door.

For a moment, Belén just stared at her incoming mother, ignoring Axel clutching her waist.

"Hey there, sweetie," Veronica closed the door like nothing and walked in.

"H-how did you get in?" Belén gave a pat to Axel's back. Seeing he was acknowledged, the boy rushed to his grandmother to retrieve his tablet so he could watch his shows.

"Oh, yes, well, Mark stopped by to give me his set," Veronica held up a different key in her hand. "I thought I'd bring it back for you."

"Okay…" Belén still wasn't very comfortable with her mother's presence.

"What's wrong?" Veronica noticed her daughter's odd behavior, despite their earlier disagreement she was pretty sure it wasn't related to her this time.

"Nothing…" Belén answered slowly and took the key from Veronica's hand. "Did...did you need anything?" she took a seat on the couch and grabbed her laptop again.

"I thought we should talk...about earlier…" Veronica took a seat across her daughter, setting her purse beside. Axel silently sat across on the same couch, delving into his tablet.

"Oh, you mean where you went ballistic on me?" Belén stared hard at her screen. "Yeah, no, I totally forgot about that."

Veronica may have thought it was sarcasm but in truth Belén had forgotten about it due to Barry and the Dr. Light situation. "Well I haven't, and I really don't want this to cause another problem between us."

"Well it's a little difficult when you're investigating my boyfriend's adoptive father."

"Not going to argue there," Veronica admitted. "But...Belén I'm a cop. I can't let things go where I don't see logic."

"Mom," Belén sighed. She pursed her lips together, struggling to keep it together all of a sudden. "I accept your apology, I do...but can we not do this right now? I just...I had a _day_...and I don't want to do anything tonight."

"Belén, what's wrong?" Veronica asked again, this time hoping she would get an answer.

Belén closed her laptop once she realized she would not be writing that night. "Barry and I may have had a disagreement."

"About…?"

"Stuff," Belén left it at that.

"Well that 'stuff' seems to be making your eyes, uh…" Veronica gestured to her own, "...kind of reddish…"

"It's normal stuff," Belén shrugged. "I don't like arguing with him but I had to say something."

"Good for you," Veronica said instantly, showing right approval. "Never swallow down your words for a man, sweetie."

There, Belén found amusement. "Yeah," she gave a slight nod of her head. "Well, I spoke my big mouth...and now I'm here."

Veronica took a moment to look at her daughter, and try to feel the pain Belén felt. With a sigh, she got up from her couch and moved to sit with Belén. "I told you my thoughts and on that man-"

"Yeah, believe me, we both got the idea," Belén sniffled a bit.

"But, if there was one thing that was left clear to me, was that this was something mutual. It's not everyday that a mother is shouted at that her daughter is loved by someone-"

Belén chuckled. "Yeah, believe it or not...he's sort of done that before with our old neighbor Mrs. Andrews."

"Really?" Veronica laughed for a moment. "Maybe you two share big mouths after all."

"Mom," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, I can't seem to understand what you would argue about so suddenly," Veronica admitted. "You don't want to explain?"

It was then that Belén gave her mother a look that Veronica had never seen before. It entailed a mixture of guilt and concern to such a level that for a moment Veronica wondered what this argument was _really_ about.

"It's private," Belén finally said, looking away from her mother.

"Really?" Veronica began to show her doubt and suspicions.

"Yes, um, it's just things between us, you know? Sometimes it's too intimate to tell someone…"

"Mm…" Veronica hummed and raised her head momentarily, apparently thinking, "...so, there isn't anything you want to tell me, then?"

"Mom, I'd really rather not," Belén meant that honestly. She didn't want to think what her mother would say if she discovered that her daughter had been moonlighting as the Azalea, and that her boyfriend was doing the same thing.

"Is 'secrets' something that Barry showed you how to keep?" Veronica got up, confusing Belén as she went on. "Because if he did, then I'm pretty sure he learned that from his pseudo-father Joe West."

"Mom…"

Veronica had crossed to the other couch to retrieve her purse. "If that's the matter then I'll have to take back everything I said about him."

"Mom, what are you-"

"I insist that Joe is covering something up with these meta cases," Veronica said, not raising her voice since Axel was still on the other couch. He was so in-tuned to his tablet he didn't notice their growing disagreements. "No one in this precinct bothered to check where these metahumans were initially being kept in prior to the metahuman compartment being built at Iron Heights. Every metahuman case that was handled was done so by Joe West and Barry Allen and that-"

"Mom-"

"I like knowing where I work, and _who_ I work with. Now you and I can both see that there is something going on in that precinct that no one else has figured out. So I'm going to ask you, Belén, do you know something that I should know? Could this argument you and Barry had possibly be linked to these metahumans?"

Belén looked down for a moment. She knew that lying to her mother about this should have been easy considering this was something important. It was something that could put her mother in danger. But, Belén found it difficult to lie straight to her mother's face. Because right now, all Belén wanted was to tell her mother all her problems she was having. She wanted to tell her mother that someone was targeting her for something dangerous; someone wanted to hurt her. That the same someone had already sent her to get shot, had already fought her and _won_. Belén wanted to share that her boyfriend was also being targeted for a clear death and she was just scared he might get hurt, or killed.

_I need my Mom_ , she came to the conclusion. That'd been the first time she thought about her mother like that...perhaps because it was the first time Veronica had been _available_ as a mother to Belén...

But Belén couldn't do anything. Because telling Veronica everything would put her in the cross-fires of Zoom and Datura.

"There is nothing I have to say," Belén forced herself to say in one go. She surprisingly held her tears together as she then requested that Veronica leave.

Extremely upset with her daughter lying, Veronica took Axel and hurried out the door. Belén was right behind them and was there to quickly close the door.

"I'm sorry," Belén whispered, closing her eyes as they began to spill tears.

~0~

Heeding some of Joe's words, Barry decided to reveal himself to Linda in order to help both of them out. Linda was already discouraged of her villainous abilities, and seeing the Flash was an actual friend did make her a little more comfortable. It also did help explain some of the oddities surrounding STAR Labs and the Flash. So, she agreed to help him out once more. Dressed as Dr. Light, she took on the role as the Flash's current enemy.

"I'm here to kill you, Flash," she stood tall and mighty across the Flash. "I am loyal to Zoom, so get ready to fry."

Soon as she said those words she knew it was a bad pun.

She shot a ray of light towards Barry but hit a couple of a stockage from the docks instead. Barry whipped a head back and decided to just go with it.

"Ow!" he let himself fall to the ground.

"Gotcha," Linda smirked, although she struggled to stay with a serious face.

"Yeah, you did, real good," Barry pushed himself up.

"Bring it," Linda motioned with a gloved hand.

Barry sped towards her and when Linda shot, she actually managed to get him. Struggling, Barry got past her only to be shot yet again on the back. This time, his fall to the ground was not fake. Linda turned around putting on her best evil smirk.

"Told you, Zoom always wins." She walked towards Barry who had kept himself down. She bent down to take his emblem and found time to whisper to him. "You're okay, right?"

Barry cracked open an eye and whispered back. "Yeah, yeah. I had to make it look good."

Linda straightened up with the emblem in her hand. "Here it is, Zoom, I did what you wanted." She headed to where the open breech was in midair. "Now bring me home." She chucked the emblem into the breech and nervously waited for Zoom to appear.

Wells and Joe waited as well, but hidden in place with weapons hoping to deter Zoom's speed. Barry had to remain 'dead' on the ground but he was more than ready to jump at the chance when Zoom appeared. Everything was in place. Everything.

However, nothing happened. Minutes passed and everything remained silent. It added onto the fear already placed over several of the group.

"Hey, stop fidgeting," Linda hissed when she caught Barry slowly attempting to move his leg.

"Sorry, it's been an hour. I landed in a ridiculous position, and my foot fell asleep," the speedster argued quietly and returned to being 'dead'.

From STAR Labs, Caitlin and Cisco were carefully checking over any security feed from the docks they could find in case Zoom appeared from another unknown breech. "He's probably just waiting to see if you're really dead. Any minute now, he's gonna strike," Cisco said as a means of encouragement.

"No," Barry decided it was just not happening tonight. He sat up with a deep sigh.

"Sorry, I probably screwed up somehow," Linda hung her head, feeling like she had failed them all.

Barry got on his feet and moved over to give her an honest thank you. "No, Linda, you did great. Thank you for helping me."

Linda knew he was disappointed and smiled sadly. She wished there was more that she could do for him. Her thoughts were interrupted by Joe and Harry coming out of hiding and the latter loudly kicking anything in his way.

"So Wells ain't taking this well," Joe sarcastically remarked as he met with Barry.

"Mm-hmm…" Barry watched Harry turn in a different direction of the docks, storming and kicking things still.

"How about you?" Joe noticed how unusually quiet Barry was despite the loss of the night.

"Yeah, it just sucks, you know," Barry shrugged, thinking of the entire day's course. "You were right a little bit about this not being just about Zoom... about it being about the Reverse Flash. But not for the reason that you think, not because I didn't beat him." With a sigh, he explained the bit of an old video Joe had yet to know about, that everyone save Belén knew. "It's... Wells... he said something to me on that video before he confessed to my mom's murder. He said that even if he was dead, that he still won because I wasn't happy, that I'd never really be happy."

Joe frowned. It was truly unbelievable how Wells could still manage to screw with them even from beyond the grave. "How the hell would he know?"

Barry shrugged again, thinking logically. "He knew me. He knows future me."

Joe rolled his eyes. "Fine. But that's future you. This is the you here and now."

"I still think that Wells is right. Ever since I went back to that night and I didn't save her... I didn't save my mom, I just... there's just been this void in me. You know, I just feel like that is always gonna be there. For better or worse, Wells...he knew me."

"Better than I know you?" Joe would have laughed had it not been a serious matter. "He may have stalked you for 15 years, but I raised you. Look, Wells said what he said to you to mess with you... to get in your head one last time. If you listen to him, you let him win."

"I know," Barry sighed. And he thought that Wells was already beginning to win. Because of his rushed persistence with this plan, he had gotten into a big argument with Belén. God knows how he would be paying for that one.

"I don't want that. You're responsible for your own happiness, Barry," Joe sincerely hoped Barry would finally begin to listen again. "Forget about Wells. Think hard about what you want and what makes you happy. Go out and get it. Simple as that. All right?"

Barry smiled a bit, giving a small nod of his head. "Yeah."

~ 0 ~

Belén had just finished setting up a small rectangular pot holder for her new Azaleas up on the kitchen window when someone knocked on her door. She dumped the trash then hurried to go open. Her heart skipped a beat when she found Barry standing on the other side. Her first thought was his lack of knowledge of today's events, and for now it seemed like the best.

"You were right," Barry decided to open with that. Perhaps hearing he was admitting she had had a point would soften her up into talking with him.

"Please tell me Linda is okay?" Belén asked in fear. Her first assumption was that his plan went wrong and it got Linda into some serious pain.

"She's fine," Barry promised her. "Zoom...didn't show."

"Oh…" Belén knew that despite her feelings on the matter she didn't like to see Barry so upset either. It was important to him, for good intentions after all. She opened the door more and gestured for Barry to come in. "I'm sorry about that," she honestly said. A good part of her was happy that Zoom didn't show up to terrorize them all, because she knew they were not prepared to fight him yet.

"Thanks," Barry watched her close the door. Sheepishly, Belén crossed the living room, or at least intended to. Barry reached out for her arm and stopped her. "Bells, I'm really sorry. You were right about it all. I knew you were right from the start but I just...I wanted to catch Zoom already."

"Yeah, I think we all saw that," Belén said, mildly playful. "And I get it, believe me I do. I want nothing more than to get Datura...but I just don't like the fact you were willing to go into it all rushed and...fast. This time, we _need_ to be slow and calculating. If Datura was difficult to manage, just imagine what Zoom is like."

"I know," Barry accepted it. "But I have to admit that...it wasn't entirely all about Zoom."

"Then…?" Belén smiled a little as she tried to understand what he meant. "...what was it about?"

"You remember the video Wells left behind as part of his will? Our Wells, I mean."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"He said that I wouldn't ever be happy no matter what. And...and it got to me more than it should have…" Barry ran a hand through his hair, still frustrated it _did_ get to him so much, to this point actually.

"I can't believe you're still giving this dead man the time of the day," Belén said first and sighed. "His words are nothing. They should have gone through one ear-" she pointed to one of his ears, "-and out the other." She then pointed to his other ear. "Ever heard of selective attention? I use it all the time."

Barry smiled knowing this was her playfulness coming out to get them back on track. "Yeah," he nodded.

"You should have said something," Belén touched his arm. "Instead of making a scene in front of our friends, I would have had a very different conversation with you somewhere else."

"Believe me if I'd realized earlier I would have." Barry reached an arm around her waist and brought her closer to him and rested his forehead against hers. "I hate arguing with you, Bells, so much."

"Me too," Belén whispered. "I don't like it. It just feels wrong, you know? If that makes sense?"

"Yeah, it does. I don't like knowing that I upset the person that makes me the happiest." Barry gave her a moment to smile before kissing her. And this time, he meant to kiss her in a way that would show her he was truly happy with _her_ despite everything that surrounded them. He walked her up against the nearest wall and kissed her.

Belén let herself be encased in his arms and kissed back until she had to breath, but even then she barely wanted to let go. Barry dragged his lips from hers and set a one kiss on her cheek, then another lower on her jawline, and last on the side of her neck. Afterwards, he nuzzled his nose against her neck, relishing from their moment. _This_ is what made him happy - _she_ made him happy.

"Can we just rest for a while?" his soft tone made it hard for Belén to understand the first time.

She turned her head to the side and met his eyes. "What?"

"The Zoom problem, the Datura problem...I just need one moment of peace...with you," Barry repeated, hoping he made sense without sounding...weird.

Belén brought a hand to rest on his cheek, and just a few seconds after Barry placed his hand over it. "Okay. Let's do that."

She gently pulled him into the hallway and brought him into her bedroom. She wished she could have finished fixing it earlier, but what was done was done. At least she'd gotten the bed. It was an odd thought to just lay down together without doing anything. Usually, they had some movie times or at the very lest were joking with each other about something. Tonight, there was no television. There was no movie. There were no jokes.

And yet, things seemed more... _intimate_.

Barry was the one to rest his head next to Belén's neck. He eventually scooted closer to her and nuzzled his nose against her neck. Belén moved her arm so that it would rest over his back and she could run her fingers up and down.

It was peaceful.

"We should do this more often," Belén's voice was soft and quiet, perfect for the moment.

"Mhm," Barry had nestled his head closer to the crook of Belén's neck. He didn't want to move anytime soon.

So they continued to lay together, doing nothing except be together. But, like all good things, it had to come to an end. Half an hour later, both of their phones started vibrating. At first, neither of them wanted to move. Neither wanted to break the nice, peaceful bubble.

But the phones kept vibrating.

"I'm sorry," Belén kissed Barry's hair and sat up so she could answer her phone. Iris was on the other end of the line, and once she was able to speak she said it all in one fast ramble.

Zoom had Linda.

~ 0 ~

STAR Labs' computers were all simultaneously ringing in alarms, indicating there was a new visitor in the area.

"He's on the roof!" Harry shouted soon as he got word from the computer.

"He has Linda," Belén rushed to the desk to see through the security cameras where oh where was Linda. "Is Datura with him!?"

While the question couldn't be answered at once, they had a clear view of Zoom. He had chosen to dangle poor Linda over the roof's edge just as Barry got there. Proving to be the ultimate villain, Zoom dropped Linda like she was a pair of socks. Barry sped down to the ground and, using his whirlwind trick, softened Linda's fall into his arms.

"You need to get out of here, okay?" Barry set her down on her feet.

Linda was beyond terrified. "No, you can't fight that thing. It's a _monster_! I don't know who's worse, him or that crazy lady!"

"Just go!"

Linda looked up at the roof and thinking that Zoom would come for her again as bait, she ran off as fast as she could.

"What _is_ that thing?" Belén was disgusted by Zoom's appearance despite it being only through a computer screen. She had yet to see the full figure of the speedster but now wished she hadn't. "He cannot be human."

Zoom was pitch black, from head to toe. There was an eerie spark around his figure. One could even say his suit didn't have gloves for hands but instead for claws.

"He _is_ human," Harry was also staring in disgust but in a different tone. "Or was, at least."

"How the hell is Barry supposed to defeat that?" Cisco was thinking of the odds in their favor and they were not looking good.

"Why is he running away?" Harry scowled after they all saw Barry speeding away from Zoom. It looked like even Zoom was a bit confused on it too.

"He's not," Belén shook her head. "He wouldn't. I think we can all agree he's not scared."

A delirious laugh came from Cisco, prompting everyone to look at him. "Ooh, he's gonna thunderbolt him!"

"What?" Harry was left thinking.

"Jay taught him how to throw lightning," Caitlin explained.

Barry returned with a thunder bolt that he threw directly at Zoom. They were all stunned, and horrified, to see Zoom literally grab said thunderbolt and throw it right back at Barry, causing the red speedster to crash against a wall.

"Did he just…?" Belén gaped and glanced at the others just to make sure she hadn't seen things. Even Barry was in disbelief.

"Did you guys see that?" he asked through the comms.

"Uh, see him catch a bolt of lightning with his demonic claws?" Cisco met everyone's looks. "Yeah, saw that."

"Jay was right. He cannot do this alone," Caitlin shook her head.

In their shock, they hadn't even seen Harry go into the side room and come back with his trusty, big gun. "He's not alone," he was busy inputting the syringe into it.

"Barry, maybe this a strategical point where you just _run_ ," Belén spoke into the comm. hoping he would listen to her.

"No," Barry, unsurprisingly responded. He had gotten back on his feet and pulled out another syringe carrying the speed-dampener liquid. "I'm gonna see if Wells' speed-dampening serum works."

"Yes, but maybe this is the 'rushed, uncalculating' thing we were talking about earlier?"

Although Barry didn't turn off the communication system, it was almost like he did. He ignored the worries of his girlfriend in an attempt to finally put Zoom down.

"How is Barry gonna match Zoom's speed?" Belén sighed, looking to one of her smarter friends for some reassurance this wouldn't end so bad.

"He's not," Cisco smirked once he had made the realization. "He's gonna take it out of the equation altogether."

Caitlin exchanged a look with Belén, neither one of them in the know. "What are you talking about?" Caitlin then asked.

"Terminal velocity. The highest velocity attainable by a falling object."

"You mean...falling through...the air…?" Belén waved her finger above her head.

"Yeah, freefall fight. Their drag force equals the downward force of gravity, making the net force zero, making…"

"Equal velocities," Caitlin joined Cisco in the end.

"That is genius!" Cisco repeated.

"Is it really?" Belén bit her lip nervously and stared at the computer screen like a hawk.

Following through with Cisco's theory, the two speedsters had made it into the air and as they fell, they tried attacking one another. However, Zoom was the one to put Barry to the ground. Zoom picked him right up and delivered a series of punches that disoriented Barry. The last blow, the strongest of all, was given through the back - through the _spine_. Barry wasn't sure what he was hearing anymore, nor what he was seeing (it was all mostly blurry) but he was sure he had felt that cracking of _bones_.

"Never forget, _I_ am the fastest man alive," Zoom declared without a scratch on him to show evidence he'd been in a fight.

"He's killing him!" Belén shouted frantically and turned around, making a run to go and help.

"Woah!" Cisco quickly jumped from his chair to block her way. "You can't go out there! He'll kill you too!"

"Someone has to help him!" Belén tried pushing her way but Cisco kept her there despite her fight. "Cisco!"

"Guys!" Caitlin's loud call made them both stop. They rapidly returned to the desk to see what Caitlin wanted them for. Zoom had injected the speed-dampener into Barry's bloodstream and hadn't stopped there.

"Where did he go!?" Belén slammed a hand on the desk once they lost sight of Zoom and Barry. Even Harry, who'd gone out to help Barry, was struck with confusion.

"I-I don't know," Cisco seemed unable to think of something to help them.

"FIND HIM!" Belén cried. She would've done it herself but she didn't know how the system worked.

Zoom had gone to CC Picture News to make a show of his 'triumph'. In one hand he held an unconscious Barry and addressed the entire staff. "Look at your hero."

Iris nearly had a heart attack. Behind her, cameras started going up and active.

"This man is no god. He is _nothing_!" Zoom left them with that knowledge and next made a stop at the precinct. "The days of The Flash protecting this city are over."

All of the cops in the area formed a line with aimed guns at the speedster.

"Put him down!" Joe was the one to shout at Zoom.

"Now what will you do without your precious hero?"

"Shoot that thing, now!" Singh gave the order.

All the cops fired until their guns finished their ammo but in the end, Zoom merely dropped all of the bullets to the ground from his palm. "Nice try."

He then sped off again.

~ 0 ~

"I should have gone out there," Belén repeated for the tenth time since Zoom had gone off their radar.

"And then what? Get yourself killed? I don't think so," Cisco remained adamant that he had done the right thing in keeping her inside the place. He was sure that Barry would agree with him.

"But then we wouldn't be in this-" Belén gasped when Zoom sped right into the cortex. "Barry!"

"Harrison Wells, you thought you could defeat me with this?" Zoom lifted Barry's body like it was some rag doll in his possession.

"I made a mistake," Harry admitted truthfully.

"Yes, a costly one."

"Let him go! Let him go right now!" Belén yelled frantically and threw a hand forwards, releasing a vine.

Zoom dropped Barry and sped up to her. Belén gasped with the ugly sight in front of her face, though a good part of it stemmed from fear.

"You are not my fight," he said just a second before Cisco shot a third syringe of the speed-dampener.

Belén stumbled backwards, yelping when Zoom dropped to his knees. Still, he managed to speed out of the place before they could capture him. Soon as he did, Belén ran for Barry's body on the floor.

~ 0 ~

As soon as Joe arrived at STAR Labs after the Zoom fiasco, he went directly for blame. If he thought Harry was suspicious before, now he firmly believed that Harry was at fault for all of it.

"This is all _you_! If Barry dies, _you_ die!" Joe jabbed a finger on Harry every time he said a word.

"Enough!" Belén walked into the cortex in a hurry with Cisco. Their shouts had carried over down the hallway and, fearing a fight, Belén and Cisco left the workroom to come and stop the two men. "Joe, I get you're angry, believe me I am too, but Harry's got nothing to do with it. _Barry_ wanted to go through with the plan in the end. No one forced him."

Still, Joe cast a menacing glare at Harry who looked more or less unaffected.

Cisco debated whether or not to bring in the mysterious topic he'd learned from Harry, but seeing that Joe was inches away from punching Harry, he decided to go with it. "Who's Jesse?"

It was easy to see that Harry was shocked to know that Cisco had knowledge of the name. "How do... Jesse's my daughter. Zoom has her." Cisco seemed to then be making the connections from his earlier vibe. Harry rushed up to him. "You've...you did vibe me-"

"Yes-"

"What did you see?"

"I saw your daughter. She was with Zoom," as Cisco explained, the others shared mutual surprise - and a bit of understanding - looks.

"But she's alive?" Harry needed to hear proper confirmation that his daughter was still breathing.

"Yes," Cisco said, and he admitted that he did feel a bit of sympathy for Harry. If he was grumpy all the time and had short patience it had to be because he was constantly worrying over his daughter being kidnapped by Zoom.

"Zoom sent you here like the others? You kill The Flash, and you get your daughter back?" demanded Joe, still un-inclined to see Harry in any other light.

"I don't...think he did…" Belén barely got the chance to say when Harry answered and explained his reasons.

"The only way I get my daughter back is I capture Zoom. Do you understand?" Harry tapped the side of his head sarcastically. "You love Barry. I love my daughter. And none of these children are safe as long as Zoom is here. I tried on my Earth to capture him. I failed. I thought I could bring him down here with Barry's help. I was wrong."

"Where are you-" Joe didn't finish on account of Harry storming out of the cortex.

~ 0 ~

When Barry finally came to, he felt his entire body aching in pain. He felt something tight around his neck and took a couple of seconds to realize it was a neckbrace.

"Can you hear me, Barry?" he heard a familiar voice beside him. He found Belén sitting beside his bed, looking so concerned over him. "I've been calling you for a couple of minutes now. Can you hear me?"

"Sorry…" Barry looked around as much as he could and saw it was broad daylight through the windows.

Belén followed his gaze and sighed. "You were out-cold for the entire night. Cait said it was normal, for you anyways…"

"How bad is it?" Barry could see a couple of bruises on his arms and he was sure there were more to discover once he could get rid of the neck brace. But even now, his body still hurt to the point he'd rather not move.

"Well, Caitlin said if you didn't heal fast it would be truly bad," Belén felt relief knowing this situation wouldn't last long for him.

"And...Linda?"

"She's fine. She told Iris and me that she was going to stay with some friends out in Coast City," Belén sighed. "I think after everything that's happened to her it's the best thing she can do."

"...Zoom?"

Belén's eyes lowered. "Um...let's...let's give that some time." When she looked at him again she had plastered a fake, cheery expression for him. "Caitlin says that in a couple of days you'll be able to try and walk and run again." She touched one of his legs with a small smile. "But you're gonna have to be patient. And don't worry, I have a lot of movies we can watch. Maybe we can try to just rest together again?"

Barry smiled, though tired, because the way in which she had asked made her look adorable. He needed that right now. "I'd like that."

Belén's smile widened. She ran her hand up and down his leg. "But you'll be patient, okay?"

Before Barry could answer, he thought of something. He realized that in all this time he hadn't felt her touch. Her fingers running down his leg...he didn't feel it. Thinking perhaps it was just the medication that was affecting his mind, he tried sitting up to check for himself.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no, you have to stay put!" Belén assumed he would try to get back in the running game before he could.

"No, Bells, I...I didn't feel your hand…"

"What-"

"I can't feel my legs!" Barry frantically yelled, leading Belén to call for their friends.

~ 0 ~

"It's about time you showed up," Wells heard soon as he put one foot into the alleyway he'd been appointed to.

Datura's heels clicked against the cement underneath but she still walked in a graceful manner to meet with Wells. "I was doing my errands." Her sarcasm was met with rolling eyes. "C'mon, you can at least say you like where we're meeting," she gestured to the alley, "It's where I made my first Earth 1 kill a few days ago. What was her name?"

Harry dismissed her smugness and went straight to business. "The hell did you want me for? Can I expect Zoom to make another appearance?"

Datura smirked, almost laughing since she knew exactly what happened. "He really knows how to make an entrance, doesn't he? But that's not why I'm here now. I need you to retrieve something for me," Datura said, losing her sarcasm when it came to her brewing idea.

Of course that idea, whilst unknown to Harry, was one that would require him to further betray the STAR Labs team. "What do you need?" he finally asked.

"It's simple. I need Belén's suit tracker." Datura raised her head the moment Harry's eyes widened. She was already tall, but this was one of her ways to feel in control. And unfortunately for Harry, she _was_ in control.

"Why do you need that!?"

Datura's red lips curled into an evil smirk. "That's for you and the others to find out later - soon, if all my errands go well."

"I...I can't do that-" Harry attempted to argue but Datura raised a finger to stop him.

" _Don't_ say no to me. No one says no to me," she said darkly, bringing one gloved hand to the air. Electricity crackled around it for a few seconds before it was fired at the dumpster just behind Harry. The man jumped to the side to avoid getting hit then wildly blinked at her. She, however, remained completely at ease. "It's not a difficult mission, Wells. All you have to do is take the damn device and bring it to me. I'd let you keep it but I don't trust you not to hand it back to the others."

"What do you need it for!?" Harry still demanded some type of answer from her.

"For an idea, I've said this already," she playfully rolled her eyes.

"I can't take that from her suit!"

"Well, I'd ask you to take it from Barry's suit but he's on another level. _I'll_ take care of him when the time comes." Her resurfaced evil smile gave Harry the chills.

"I thought he was all Zoom's..."

"He is, but it doesn't mean I can't have my own fun. Besides," Datura put her hands behind her back as she took a couple steps forwards, "He's not my target. He's really just a bonus for me - to get to Belén, I need him on the side. And to do that, I need Belén's suit tracker. It's really a whole-" she made hand gestures in the air, "-cycle thing that only I understand, but..." she drew in a deep breath and put on a sweet smile, "...it's all good. _I_ get it. _So_ -" she came to stand right in front of Harry, her sweet smile gone and replaced with seriousness, "-get me the suit tracker by tonight or I'll get it myself and I won't care who gets in my way."

Harry honestly felt like shooting her right there and then...but he was out of weapons...and he was short one daughter. " _Fine_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> P.S As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


	8. Losing My Head

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Belén discovers the recent string of robberies Datura and Poison Ivy have been doing. She spends a lot of time trying to figure out what the purpose of the robberies could be for, so much that it puts her out of sync with the rest of the team, including Barry.

Out in the reserved training area of STAR Labs, Cisco stood at a safe distance from Belén, holding a tablet in both hands. His fingers danced over the screen while his eyes flickered from it to the targets he'd set up for his friend to hit.

"Ready?" he called.

Belén nodded her head. "Bring it, Cisco."

With a small shrug, Cisco activated said targets. The three targets released several tendrils of vines that shot with rapidness to get her. Belén did her best to dodge them all and send back her own vines. However, being so focused on the vines she forgot the most important detail of fighting Datura.

She had more than one power.

One target shot electricity that blasted Belén a good amount back. Her body came to a stop eventually, but when she raised her head off the cement she looked close to screaming in frustration.

"Sorry!" called Cisco who quickly turned everything off.

"That's the fourth time!" Belén exclaimed, smacking a hand on the ground before she got up. "Clearly, I'm not getting this!"

Cisco sprinted towards her with the intention of calming her down. "Hey, we've been at this for a while now-"

"-two hours," Belén bitterly said. "And we've been doing this for a while now so why the hell am I not getting it? Datura's going to kick my ass - _again_ \- in 10 seconds flat if I keep this up."

"You can't expect to have this in a week, Bells," Cisco said softly. "You just need to keep training."

"But will it really be enough?" Belén folded her arms, eyes darting to the side. "I only fought Datura once and it was only because she decided to go that I'm still living, technically. What's going to happen the next time she comes?"

"You'll fight her with everything you've got," Cisco answered.

"But if this is all I've got then I might as well just let her stab me."

"Bells, you're just tired. You've been helping Barry and not sleeping like he and the rest of us asked you to-"

Belén raised a hand to stop him from talking. "The fact you all thought I would leave Barry while he's literally getting back on his feet is still hilarious to me," she said so deadly serious it was almost scary. "Though I should be more offended."

"I'm just saying, and I think I speak on behalf of the others, including Barry, it's okay to take some time for yourself," Cisco took a step back for good measure. No one had been brave enough to say it to Belén to her face.

Belén opened her mouth when they both heard their phones going off back at the table. Belén immediately assumed it had to do with Barry and his progress. "Can't do that," she told Cisco before darting for the table.

~ 0 ~

Barry knew that everyone around him was just trying to help him, but it really didn't make it better when they were all crowded around him like hawks as they watched him struggle to take a decent step. He held that in while Joe helped him take his first step down the cortex. But he felt like a goddamn child, and not even a self-sufficient one at that.

"All right, I got you," Joe reached for the cane given to Barry for support until he could walk on his own. Barry wearily let go of the cane and took a deep breath to begin his steps on his own.

He pushed his feet forwards and swallowed down a mild jab of pain he felt shooting up his legs. The third step was the last step he felt he could take. "Okay, I can't do it right now, all right?" he let himself fall on Thawne's old wheelchair with a big sigh.

"Hey guys," Belén walked in a moment afterwards. Cisco came right behind with a small greet. "How are we doing with the walk?" Belén came straight to Barry.

"We're making so much progress," Iris answered first and ignored the sour face Barry was making behind. "Right?" she looked to Caitlin for some backup.

"We are," Caitlin nodded, hoping to encourage Barry.

Of course, their words were cancelled out when Barry spoke up using full sarcasm to ridicule his own progress. "Yep, six whole steps. Someone get me a Bozo button."

"Hey, give yourself some credit. You just broke your back," Cisco thought he needed a reminder of the gravity of his situation.

"Yeah, a normal person would've been paralyzed the rest of his life," Belén reached for Barry's hand. "You're doing amazing."

Barry found that hard to believe. It had been days since he fought Zoom and while he was somewhat back on his feet he knew there were already some losses that he could never get over. Yet, no one was - ironically - mentioning anything from that part. "How long until I'm fully healed?" he asked from Caitlin.

Caitlin went behind the desk to pull his x-ray scans up on the screens of the walls. She thought if he saw his progress he would be less hard on himself. "The initial MRI I took a week ago showed a complete dislocation at the T12-L1 interspace of the thoracolumbar junction. But that's the MRI I took this morning. It's remarkable, but you're almost completely healed."

"I'm still having trouble breathing…"

"That's totally normal with a spinal injury. It should clear up soon."

Barry looked back at his suit sitting on display. Belén knew where his thoughts laid and gripped his hand in hers. "You'll be back in that suit in no time, just watch." Her words didn't seem to make an effect on him.

"What are we gonna do about Zoom?" he asked instead.

"No sign of him since Cisco nailed him with that tranq dart," Joe said rather happy about it.

"And I haven't vibed since then. Maybe Zoom's not coming back," Cisco's eyes drifted to the rest of the group. They all knew the chances of that happening were slim.

"I highly doubt that," Harry came into the cortex with his jacket on and gun in hand. "Which is why I'm gonna go do something about it."

"And what, pray tell, does that mean?" Belén wearily glanced at the man. Instead of helping them out with Barry's situation, Harry had decided to be reclusive and bitter.

"I need access to your breach room and your speed cannon," Harry declared, mildly surprising the others.

"Why is that?" asked Barry.

"Because, Barry, it's time to go home."

Joe shot Harry an incredulous look. "So, you show up on our Earth, you screw everything up, and now you want to go home? Sounds very familiar."

"Again, that wasn't me. I need to go take care of Zoom once and for all before anyone else gets killed."

"Exactly how do you plan on doing that?" Belén didn't want to be rude and remind him that he was only there in the first place because he hadn't figured a way out to stop Zoom in his own. She hoped she would be subtle.

"I'll think of something. Ramon, if you'll escort me to the speed cannon," Harry didn't wait for an answer and started out of the room. He had enough of this wallowing in grief stuff. Datura was waiting for him to deliver Belén's suit tracker and since he wasn't going to actually do it, he needed to get the hell out of Earth 1 before she returned. At least on Earth 2, she couldn't force him to continue sneaking around Earth 1 STAR Labs.

"No, no, you can't go through the breach!" Caitlin hurried to stop Harry, not that the man seemed any less inclined to slow down.

"Yeah, he can," Joe said, forcing Caitlin to pause and turn back. "Jay taught us how to send people."

"That's not what I mean," Caitlin warned them to be quiet for a moment and then looked up to Harry.

Cisco shot Caitlin a confused look. "What are you doing? If Harry wants to go...bye," he wiggled his fingers.

"Look, like it or not, Cisco, we need his help."

Joe was quick to disagree. "I'm not sure another plan from Wells is what we need."

"Yeah, I mean, the last bright idea he had nearly got Barry killed," Iris didn't think they needed a repeat of that.

"I know, but Jay's gone, and Dr. Wells knows Zoom better than anyone, so until Barry is back on his feet again, we need to keep Wells around in case Zoom returns."

"Caitlin, if he doesn't want to be here, then we're better off without him," Barry shrugged. "Let him go."

Belén dreaded to voice her opinion that she actually agreed with Caitlin. As much as they hated to admit it, Harry was the only one left who knew everything about Zoom and Datura, not to mention Harry was frikin brilliant. Caitlin, on the other hand, would not hide hers.

"I can't do that. Not yet," she shook her head and walked out.

Soon as she walked out, an alarm went off.

"Oh, snap, metahuman attack!" Cisco broke into a run for the desk. However, the alarm turned out to be nowhere near what they believed. "Nope, nope, my bad, that is just an alert for me," Cisco apologized with a meek smile.

"What?" Belén frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, it's just a reminder. I have a date in an hour, so…"

"Oh, with who?" Iris asked, still in the dark of Cisco's newest girl.

A great big smile broke across Cisco's face as he replied, "With the lovely Kendra Saunders, the barista at Jitters. Oh, she makes a mean latte. I think we're gonna go out for dinner and a movie, and then, I don't know-" he coughed and mumbled, "-maybe some breakfast."

"Wait, breakfast?" Barry played dumb, even putting on the best face of confusion that he could. "Why breakfast? I don't…"

Cisco's smile faded as he bought into the entire ruse. "Yeah...cause, you know, you go home…'' he would think he wouldn't need to explain this.

"Cisco…" Belén smiled a bit at the cluelessness of her friend. He was probably so smitten with Kendra he couldn't pick up on anything else right now.

"He's messing with you," Joe was close to laughing as well. Iris was being polite by looking away to laugh.

Cisco narrowed his eyes on Barry who was smiling rather cheekily. "Oh," Cisco frowned. "Not cool dude!"

"It's okay Cisco," Belén couldn't help but go in and defend him, at least this one time. "Barry probably did need an explanation because he wouldn't know anything about having ' _breakfast_ ' so…"

It seemed to help _Cisco_ alright.

"Wha - Belén!" Barry gaped at her completely, his face already flushing red.

"Hm," Cisco strode out with a great, big smirk on his face.

"You had it coming," Belén turned to him with arms crossed. "Don't mess with poor Cisco like that right before his first date with a cute girl."

"Yeah, alright, but did you really have to go _there_? In front of...?" Barry made a not-so-subtle nod towards Iris and Joe, both of whom were still struggling not to laugh out loud.

Suddenly, a second alarm started blaring in the room, those remaining collectively rolled their eyes thinking it was another of Cisco's "date" reminders.

"Anyone know how to turn that feature off?" Iris decided to ask for future references.

Belén scoffed as she moved for the desk. "I don't think that'll be enough to stop him - oh my God it's not a date reminder it's an actual alarm!"

"Where?" Barry decided to move quicker than he was physically able to and suffered the consequences. His groan echoed in the room and before he could keel over, Joe caught him. "I'm fine! I'm fine!" Barry angrily waved a hand to shoo Joe away.

"Please don't do that again," Belén warned while she located their newest meta. "Not until Caitlin says you can at least."

"So, where's the meta and what's it doing?" Iris positioned herself beside Belén.

"It's a break-in at Mercury Labs," Belén said with a frown. "And that's a bit confusing because, no offence, but, most of our criminal metas are idiots."

"With the exception for a few," Barry's words carried a significant meaning. "Who is it?"

"I don't know," Belén left Iris at the computers. "But I'll let you know in a bit." She then looked at Iris. "Keep Nina on standby just in case."

Iris nodded. "On it."

Belén hurried towards her suit but stopped by Barry to kiss his cheek. "I'll be right back."

"Please be careful," he said, wishing he could be more useful to help her. The city had been solely relying on her for all their trouble and that was a load to carry, he would know. But, with his legs just barely able to sustain him he'd only get in the way.

~0~

The scene at Mercury Labs was a usual one when it was under fire. The first floor was a mess, furniture turned over and a couple shattered windows on the ground. What wasn't so usual were the two culprits standing at the center not doing anything.

Until they heard the steps they wanted. The Azalea had arrived.

The brunette first looked over her shoulder before making a motion for the ginger to go forwards. She then turned around completely to give full display of her smugness that shined even under her mask. "Do you honestly think you're ready for round 2?"

Belén raised her head in silence. She'd honestly been expecting this to just be a regular robbery, but that wasn't the case with Datura. It could never be.

"Belén?" she started to hear Iris' through the comm. in her ear. "It's her, isn't it? Datura?"

"Bells…" Barry's voice was full of concern.

"I'm fine," Belén said in an almost mumble.

Datura chuckled from her spot. "Let me guess, they're worried about you? Well, I mean, they should be."

"What do you want from this place?" Belén decided to go in a different alternative. She knew that if she listened to Datura's mocks it would only make her doubt herself even more.

"Things," answered Datura. "But I have to say I'm a little disappointed in how little advanced Mercury Labs is here."

"Sorry, next time I'll let them know we need better equipment for you to steal," Belén found herself being easily sarcastic.

"That's all I'm asking for," Datura went with it and even did a mock bow for show. However, just as she raised her head she struck a hand forwards, firing a deadly red energy that threw Belén backwards against the open entrance door. Datura's eyes flashed a golden yellow as she watched Belén pick herself up with wobbly legs. "You should always expect the unexpected," Datura's voice was overlapped with a second one, both terribly snappy.

Belén tried not to groan as she picked her head up from the ground, but that really did hurt. _That bitch_. And the fact Datura was smirking so smugly wasn't helping either. Belén planted a hand on the floor and let thin vines creep underground until they were directly underneath Datura's feet. Datura didn't feel the vines attack her ankles until they slammed her flat on the ground. Now it was Belén's turn to smirk. "You're right, you should always expect the unexpected," Belén got up and raised her hands to lift the glasses from the entrance door to start throwing at Datura.

Datura rolled to the side and shot Belén a glare. "The hero trying to cut me with glass? That's _really_ unexpected."

"Shut the hell up!" Belén had no interest in playing Datura's game. Yes, she was mad at hell because Datura knew exactly how to press her buttons. The mere presence of the woman reminded Belén how she'd lost so easily against the Earth 2 metahuman. So yeah, maybe she was trying to play the game like Datura was.

Datura briefly smirked before charging for Belén. Her eyes glowed a piercing white before firing lasers from them.

"Belén?" called Barry through the comms, but of course all he and Iris heard were the crashes and groans from the two women. "We're calling Nina-"

"-no!" Belén managed to say while avoiding one of Datura's lasers from cutting through her leg. "I can - OW!"

Datura had caught her thigh and that _hurt_. Belén looked down at the opened wound and scowled at the culprit. Datura smirked and tossed a sphere of white energy between her hands. "You can't beat me."

It was just four words, four words, and they had that added that much more anger to what Belén was already feeling. Frustrated, Belén ran towards Datura with all powers ready to go. The spheres of energy dissipated from Datura's hands in time for the woman to combat Belén. The two went at it and as much as Belén hated to admit, Datura seemed to either be on the _same_ level as her or was better than her.

"Belén!" Barry called, or shouted, in vain. He tried rigging up the security feed to see exactly what was going on. "Iris, hit that one!" he frantically pointed to the keyboard at the edge of the desk. Iris scrambled to do the task and seemed to do it on time.

Datura was catching Belén's hands each time the latter attempted to strike. Datura smirked as she got to see a close up on Belén's frustration. The ombre-blonde was close to snapping or crying out of pure frustration. And yet, it was no surprise for Datura. She knew this would happen and she would enjoy every minute of it.

"Datura, let's go!"

Well, almost every minute of it. Datura pushed Belén away from her and threw Poison Ivy an irritated look. "Seriously? Now!?"

Poison Ivy held a couple devices in her hands and she merely raised them to remind Datura why they'd come to Mercury Labs in the first place. "Let's go! _Now!_ "

Datura groaned. "Fine! Until next time, Azalea."

Belén glared at Datura. Her entire body ached and she was frankly out of breath. Even as she raised her hand to attempt at stopping them, her powers didn't release as they usually did. Datura and Poison Ivy made another clean escape.

~ 0 ~

"Well this is really great," Cisco sarcastically went on with gestures going between Belén and Barry, "Not only is our speedster down, but our Azalea is too."

If it was possible to kill with a look, Belén would have murdered Cisco in that moment. She sat on the edge of the medical bed while they waited for Caitlin to stitch up an open wound on her neck. She'd already stitched up the wound on Belén's thigh. Yup, there were multiple stitches this time.

"I'm not down, Cisco," Belén said in what sounded more like a warning for Cisco to stop with that.

"Belén, could you stop..." Caitlin trailed off and nodded down to Belén's hands. The latter realized she was gripping the edges and adding on pressure to her neck.

"Sorry," Belén mumbled as she let go. She put her hands - which had some red spots on her knuckles - on her lap and kept quiet while the others went on.

"What was Datura looking for at Mercury Labs?" Iris asked her father since the CCPD had already visited the scene.

"They took some prototypes of a few devices," Joe answered, "But the odd part was they were all being used to alleviate sleep and dreams. Some new market McGee was trying to get at."

"Sleep and dreams?" Barry repeated, frowning, as were the others. "What does she want to do with that?"

"Give us wicked nightmares, I bet," Cisco said with widened eyes, already terrified at the thought. "Because she isn't already giving it to us in real life."

"She's not going to win for long," Belén scooted off the bed once Caitlin was finished. "I'm going to get her."

"You need to take it easy," Caitlin told her in that doctor-ly tone that left no room for arguments. "You have multiple bruises - I just stitched up two decently wide, open wounds - and look at your hands? You're lucky you don't have a concussion."

"I get it, she kicked my ass," Belén snapped, though not specifically at Caitlin. She was just upset in general. " _Again_."

Caitlin sighed. "That's not what I meant to say-"

"-I know," Belén moved to leave.

"Belén, where are you going?" called Barry, wishing he could catch up with her but he was lucky if he could spring two steps without falling on his face. Perhaps that was the reason she stopped and turned back.

"To train, where else?" she, again, snapped. "You saw what she did to me!"

"Yeah, but you heard Caitlin-"

"-and you heard the part where Datura won _again_ , right?"

"We don't know where they are anyways," Cisco chimed in to take some of the tension away. "Even if you train right now, it won't make much of a difference. And, hello, you need to rest!"

Belén cringed with frustration. "I'M NOT -" but she stopped midway with her hands in the air. Slowly, she brought them down and un-clenched them. "If I keep letting Datura get away, she'll just keep hurting people and stealing things. I have to do something." She dared them all with a look to say she was wrong. When no one said anything, she tilted her head as an indication of ' _I thought so_ ' and left the room.

"Someone's gotta keep an eye on her," Barry rubbed his face, probably just as frustrated as Belén was. "I'd do it, but..." he made a languid gesture at his legs. He really felt so useless and it just kept getting worse and worse.

~ 0 ~

When Belén went to pick up her nephew from preschool, she was surprised to find her mother already in custody of Axel by the front gate of the school. Not wanting to cause a scene, especially in front of Axel, Belén came up to the two with a polite smile across her face.

"Mom, you're here...what a surprise," she said in mildly strained tone.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel excitedly hugged her, completely missing the flinch his aunt did.

"What's happened to you?" Veronica didn't miss anything. She was appalled to see her daughter's hands red and the clear stitches across Belén's neck made nothing better. "Are you okay!?"

"I thought we agreed I would pick Axel up today," Belén attempted to go down the road of ignorance. She didn't want her mother hassling her for answers.

"Calm down, I only came to find you," Veronica raised her hands to show she'd come in a peaceful stance. "But that was before I saw...you. Belén, honey, you have to tell me what happened to you. Did someone hit you? Was it Ba-"

"Mom, for the love of God, don't finish that sentence," Belén wearily pleaded.

Veronica pursed her lips together. She had to agree silently that Barry didn't look like the abusive type. But that still left the question of who was hurting her daughter. The bubbling rage she felt under her skin got no better with Belén's evasiveness. "Belén, I am _begging_ you to tell me what is going on. Please. I know we have our differences but...honey, someone is _hurting_ you. They're causing you physical pain and I want them brought in."

Belén felt her shoulders shake. Crying was _not_ an option. No sir. "I can't, Mom. Was there a reason you came here?"

"Why can't you just be honest with me?" Veronica asked in a hurt manner.

"Because I can't. And it's not because I'm mad with you, it's just that I really can't. It's better this way." And yet somehow, Belén wasn't entirely sure that was truth anymore. Would it be better to keep her mother away from all this metahuman stuff?

Veronica shook her head. "It's things like these that don't make me stop my investigation, Belén. Because you can deny it all you want but we both know there is something going on that you're not telling me." Veronica allowed her words to sink in Belén's mind before adding on. "And I know that Joe and Barry are involved in this, so don't think this is over. I do love you, you know, and I just want to know what's going on in your life. So if you won't tell me, I'm just going to keep looking until I get the answers I need."

"Auntie Belén," Axel tugged on Belén's purse once Veronica had gone. "Why do you and grandma fight a lot?"

Belén should've known that by now Axel would catch on to the fact neither she nor his grandmother were getting along so well. She took Axel by the hand and started walking in the opposite direction where she parked her car.

"Um...your grandma and I...are just...having little problems. But you don't have to worry, sweetie."

"Okay," Axel shrugged it off like any four year old would. "Are we going to STAR Labs today? I wanna throw things into the holes!"

"Dammit Cisco," Belén mumbled under her breath.

"Can we!? Can we!?" Axel grew more excited by the minute.

"No more throwing things into holes, first of all," Belén clarified. "And right now isn't a good time to go."

"Why not?" Axel stopped his hops and frowned.

"Because, well…" Belén thought of the simplest way to put it, "...Barry is a little bit...sick, and…"

Axel gasped and covered his mouth. "Oh no! Are you going to be sick too?"

Belén chuckled at his thoughts. "No, Axel, I'm not. It's not contagious, I promise. So, what do you want to do today? We don't have to be back at grandma's until eight."

Axel grinned slowly as he got an idea.

~0~

"It's been a while since you visited, Belén," Dr. Baeva offered the young woman a kind smile. By the looks of Belén's appearance, she could use one.

"Lot's happened," Belén made a weak gesture at herself, not that she wasn't aware Dr. Baeva hadn't taken her appearance in. "I've been a bit busy dealing with our city's newest metas."

"Oh yes," nodded Dr. Baeva. "I've seen them on the television. How's our Flash doing?"

Belén's face wasn't a readable one. "Physically, he's getting better. Mentally...well, that's another thing. But I'm sure you know that."

Dr. Baeva nodded again. "And how are you, Belén?"

Belén automatically heaved a heavy sigh. "Not well. Long story short, I keep getting my ass handed to me by Datura, featuring Poison Ivy on occasion. And then to top it off, my mom and I are still not getting along. And it's not even because of our mother-daughter relationship it's because of all this secret meta stuff I'm dealing with." She took in another deep breath after her long ramble. "So, no, I'm not doing well."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Dr. Baeva said. "Would you like to expand on those things? I think taking it piece by piece would be a good idea to prioritize between the bigger problems and the small ones."

At this point, Belén was ready to try anything. "I mean, the Datura problem is a really big one. She can travel between worlds at her beck and call and...Dr. Baeva, she's a siphoner. She has countless powers at her fingertips and she can alternate between them."

"She sounds incredibly strong," Dr. Baeva agreed based on the facts presented. "But I have reason to believe so is the Azalea."

But at that comment, Belén scoffed loudly. "See this?" she pointed at her exposed neck stitches. "She did that. And I have another one on my thigh. I have multiple bruises on my body and look at my hands!" she turned her hands over and over.

"Belén, I'm going to ask that you take a deep breath," Dr. Baeva calmly requested. "Your rambles can turn into anxiety."

Belén took several breaths until she felt confident enough to speak at a normal pace that didn't involve so many hand gestures. "Datura...is a big problem," she began again. "I've fought her several times now and she keeps beating me. If I don't come up with something soon, she's going to kill me. So, yeah, I'm prioritizing her as a huge problem, actually."

"The good thing is, Belén, that you don't work alone. Your team members can offer new ideas and perspectives that you haven't thought of."

"I know, but...I can't help feel like it's all on me, you know? Datura is coming for _me_ , so I should be able to handle it. I should be able to handle her on my own."

"I have to ask if that's the same for the Flash? Is Zoom something he needs to take care of on his own?"

"Well, of course not, but..." Belén paused and watched Dr. Baeva smile at her, "Okay, I get what you mean by that. Maybe Datura isn't my problem, but...I'm the one who has to fight her."

"Yes, but everything you do to fight her is not solely dependent on you. Your team is there to advice you. Don't forget that."

Belén nodded slowly. "Okay. Still a huge problem, though."

"And what about your mother?"

Belén pursed her lips together while she thought of all the disagreements she had with her mother so far. "It started out with Axel's custody. I gave it to her and we were doing fine until she met my boyfriend. She didn't like him because he broke up with me and all, but once she got over that...she started to notice all these secrets of mine."

"The metahuman side of you, you mean?"

"Yeah. She's suspecting and I have to give her that I would do the same in her place. But telling my mom that I'm the Azalea...that seems like a bad idea."

"Can I ask why?"

"Because it would put her in danger," Belén said automatically. "I've seen what this life can do. I don't think my mom is cut out for that."

"She's not, or you aren't ready for her to join you at STAR Labs?" asked Dr. Baeva with a knowing smile on her face. "It's completely normal. You have been estranged from your mother for a good part of your life. Letting her into the deep part of your life is not something that comes easily."

"I can't be sure," Belén answered honestly. "And therefore, I can't say if it's a big problem or not. I love my Mom, however weird relationship we have, I do...but I don't know what to do on this one."

~ 0 ~

Barry could say that he could at least now attempt to run on a treadmill. With the passing of the days, he had more endurance and definitely more strength to keep himself from falling. The only problem now was that every time he tried to push himself more on the treadmill, he would start remembering his last encounter with Zoom. Once he heard the crack of his spine he felt it was over again.

"You done for the day?"

Barry stopped drinking water and put the lid over his bottle. He turned back and saw Belén standing at the doorway, holding two bags of Big Belly Burger.

"Peace offering?" she put on her best smile, hoping it was enough to at least get into the room.

Barry smiled at her. "You know that's like a snack for me, right?" He ate way more than 2 bags and she knew it.

"I forgot my credit card at home," she shrugged and came in. "That or Axel hid it from me 2 days ago. I'm sure it'll pop up somewhere around here."

"Is he with your Mom, tonight?"

Belén nodded her head. "Yup. I think one afternoon in STAR Labs is more than enough for him, don't you think?"

Barry chuckled. Having Axel around was definitely a mood lifter. Cisco sure seemed to love the kid being around. "You should see what he drew for me." He moved towards the table against the wall and picked up a piece of paper.

"Oh my God," Belén laughed at Axel's scribbles that did have a shape of a person.

"It's supposed to be me, the Flash, running," Barry pointed at the red blob representing himself. It warmed his heart when Axel gave it to him, especially when it came with the four year old's "You're still a hero" comment.

"He drew that with me in the afternoon when I brought him here," Belén remembered it as one of the dozens of pictures she and Axel did together. "I just wasn't sure which ones I threw away and which ones I didn't."

"I love it," Barry put the paper down on the table. "At least someone still sees me as a hero."

"Not true," Belén levelled him with a look. "I do too. And everyone else here too."

"Yeah but the city's another thing..."

"And I think they're way more afraid of Zoom so trust me, they _really_ want you back." Belén handed him the bags of food. "And I'm sorry for not being there to remind you of this."

"You don't need to apologize, Bells," Barry put the bags on the table in order to take Belén's hands. "I know you've been dealing with other things too and I'm sorry I haven't been able to help you."

"I think we've both been a little bit out of sync, huh?" Belén offered one weak smile for their troubles. Barry had to agree. It wasn't that they were angry with each other, but it was the same frustration each felt that kept them apart for a while. In a sense, they were mad at the world.

The two took a seat on the edge of the treadmill, forgetting dinner while they talked.

"Datura has kicked my ass twice, and she's made it seem like she didn't break a sweat," Belén lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Believe me, that's not what Iris and I saw," Barry had to disagree there. "You guys were following each other's moves."

"But that's the thing," Belén raised her head to sigh, "It's like no matter what I pulled, what I strategy I used, Datura knew it. It's like she expected each of my moves. I couldn't best her."

"And she couldn't best you at times," Barry once again added.

"But I didn't know what moves she would use. I got lucky. And it kills me that she knows she can one-up me each time."

"I know," Barry nodded. "Zoom knows that about me too. He practically _destroyed_ me. He showed everyone in Central City what he could do, and that I'm powerless to stop him," Barry shook his head. "They gave me a key to this city! I'm supposed to be their hero. I'm supposed to be the guy that can protect them from something as evil as that, and I failed in front of all of them." And _that_ was the image that tan over and over in his head. Because, of course the news had spread throughout the city that the Flash practically was nothing. "When they think of the Flash, all they see now is someone not strong enough to protect them."

"Not true," Belén could say honestly. "I think they see someone who _will_ fight for them. But I get what you mean. Our self esteems aren't very high at the moment, but maybe that's what they want." She knew Datura was playing a mind game with her. It was clear in her smugness and her taunts. She knew she was the better fighter, but perhaps that wasn't always going to be the same. Of course if Belén continued to think Datura was better, she would be better and thus give Datura the clear shot to win.

"Guys!? Hello!?" Cisco's urgent voice blared from the speakers. "Guys! We have a problem!"

Belén and Barry looked at each other with the same curiousness. They needed to get back to the cortex and see what else had gone wrong with their group. Once they arrived, Cisco told them (in a quick ramble of panic) that Caitlin had punched him in the face and walked out like nothing. It only took him a couple minutes to realize she must have been mind controlled, and the only one with those types of powers was...

"I can't believe we have to deal with that gorilla again," Belén scowled.

Cisco looked up from the computers where he was currently conducting multiple searches for Grodd's possible whereabouts. "There's nothing on Caitlin or Grodd."

"Okay, so...are there any ideas on why Grodd would come back from the dead just to take Cait?" Barry tried to think on his own but he couldn't find a good reason for the sudden return of Grodd.

"I don't know," Cisco replied. "It doesn't make any sense. She was always so nice to him."

"Yeah but remember what Joe said," Barry said, reminding them that the CCPD had already found several leads on the return of the gorilla from the previous days. "Grodd mind-controlled two lab technicians to steal chemicals that enhance intelligence. He wants her for something."

"He wants to make something," Belén shrugged, finding it the most logical reason. "Caitlin is pretty good at that."

"Well, looks like he left his bachelor pad in the sewers," Cisco gave up on searching through the sewer cameras.

"Right, but it's not like Grodd can just waltz through downtown in the middle of the day without anybody noticing," Belén gestured with a hand. "Someone had to see him at _some_ point...right?" her eyes flickered from Cisco to Barry for some confirmation she was on the right track.

"Right," Cisco snapped his fingers at her, making her beam, "And if there's been sightings, then we might be able to approximate his location."

"We can get the CCPD's help with that," Barry thought of. "I'll call Joe."

"Good," Cisco nodded. "We gotta get her back."

But unfortunately, their night would not bring them any successful results. Caitlin wasn't anywhere in the city streets, and it didn't appear like she would be coming out any time soon.

The next day, Barry had woken himself up to begin another session of running. If Caitlin was at the hands of Grodd, he _needed_ to get back in the field. He felt that if he wasn't at least trying to get a little better at running then he was wasting time. But then when he was running, like he was at the moment on the treadmill, he would get the images of his failed fight against Zoom and suddenly everything became senseless to him. What was the point to keep fighting if he knew he would lose?

Barry reached to the side and turned off the treadmill. He'd gotten to that 'it's senseless' part again.

"Keep that chin down, slugger," he heard a familiar voice behind.

Barry turned around to find Henry coming into the room. "Dad!" he came rushing off the treadmill to hug his father, not realizing till that moment how much he needed his father.

After getting up to speed, as much as was possible anyways, Henry took a good study of his son's records from the accident. As he pulled several exams on the screens, he was easily able to conclude there was really no problem anymore - physically. He didn't have to be a genius to know where the problem was coming from. Behind him, Barry sat on a stool watching the records he himself had gone over countless times.

"No spinal cord edema. I don't see any subacute hemorrhaging. Bone fused beautifully. You're all good, Barry," Henry finally said and turned sideways to see his son who was looking more or less displeased. "I'd give you some physical therapy, but you don't need it."

Barry acknowledged the words but didn't want to keep talking about it. "I'm really glad you're here, Dad."

Henry smiled. "Me too. You know, I tried to call, but you can't a cell in Granite Peak National Park, so…"

"Granite Peak... what are you... You went camping by yourself?" Barry was truly surprised seeing as his father hadn't been one to camp.

"Yeah, yeah, I got a tent. I went fishing every day. I have had my fill of largemouth bass for a while," Henry chuckled. "Sometimes you just have to slow down to get back to where you want to be."

"Yeah. Look, Dad…" Barry began but really didn't have the right words to explain himself. Luckily for him, someone came into the room. He was relieved to see that it was Belén, whom he'd hadn't seen since yesterday despite her promise to be back from wherever she had to go.

Belén was surprised to find Barry with his father and immediately felt like she'd interrupted. "Oh, I'm so sorry…" she grabbed her purse from the desk after a second of putting it down. "I thought...there was...no one, but - I'll just find Cisco!"

"Bells!" Barry went after her (as best as possible on his slow pace) while Henry called 'it's fine!' to her. Belén was stopped by Barry just by the threshold. "Hey, it's fine, really," Barry took her by the hand and led her back inside the room.

"I'm sorry," Belén sheepishly told Henry once they were face to face. "I-I didn't know you were going to be in the city."

"Iris called me in and explained the situation to me," Henry explained. "I couldn't just ignore it."

Belén's eyebrows raised together, suddenly remembering that she had meant to help Iris come up with a decent solution to Barry's problem. How could she forget that? "I'm happy she did that," Belén smiled lightly, truly meaning those words. She was only upset that she'd not helped like she was meant to. Where was her head lately?

Cisco came in hollering something about finding Caitlin. "I don't know why I didn't think of it before," he said as he fiercely got into the computers. "It's so King Kong!"

"Cisco, no offence, but what the hell are you talking about?" Belén came up beside him, dreary looking.

"I'm ignoring that because we don't have the time," Cisco responded calmly and gave a 'yahoo!' when he pulled up three different belltowers in the city. "Grodd has to be in one of these bell towers. The only reason we couldn't find him on any cameras underneath the city before was because he upgraded from a bachelor pad to a penthouse, like a baller."

"Okay, so we know where he is," Barry slowly joined him and Belén. "We still don't know how to get her."

A wide smile spread across Cisco's face, signaling that the second part of the plan had already been thought of. "We got a plan for you."

"That smile means it's something stupid or just...plain wrong," and for that, Belén took one step away from Cisco.

"What's the plan?" Barry asked.

Cisco did not answer as Wells came into the room, dressed as the Reverse Flash. "We use _me_."

Barry did not attempt to control himself and sped Wells out of the cortex and right against a wall.

"No, Barry! That's Harry!" Cisco went after the two. Belén and Henry did the same, but both were just as confused as Barry. "That's the other Wells! Barry. Let him go!"

It took a moment for Barry to grasp the concept of the idea. He awkwardly let go of Harry and took a step back, hand in his hair. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"You're still here," Belén blinked at Harry. "I thought you were going home."

Harry kept silent because he didn't really have a response for that. One moment he was sure of what he needed to do - which was to leave - and then the next Caitlin comes in with words that made him doubt where his place was.

"We found another suit in the Time Vault," Cisco moved beside Harry.

"Bit sinister, don't you think?" Belén could not stop staring at Harry and think about Eobard. It gave her shivers.

"I thought he was dead," came Henry's input which reminded everyone that he was not up to speed with the situation.

"He's dead," Barry made sure to clarify. "This is... this is Harrison Wells from Earth-2."

Henry was still just lost. "Earth-2?"

"Whole other story that includes multiple universes," Belén briefly explained.

"If we can get Harry to convince Grodd that he's Wells, that he's his father, maybe we can convince him to let Caitlin go," Cisco finally just shared the entire plan.

"I'm not gonna be able to help if anything goes wrong," Barry needed Harry to understand that. They needed to get Caitlin back but everyone needed to be on the same page of the risks.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Harry nodded.

"If worst comes to worst, I'll go," Belén volunteered, earning herself a very dreadful look from Barry. She met his gaze with a small smile. "I'm not going to hide when people need my help."

"We won't need you," it was Harry who had spoken up this time. Belén threw him an incredulous glance, probably confounded with his risky choice. Harry just thought that maybe if she didn't use her suit, he might be able to extract the suit tracker and make another one identical to it without use. Let's see Datura do her plan with that.

~ 0 ~

However odd and risky their plan was...it worked. And that came as a shock because of the aforementioned details. Grodd had been subdued and would be relocated somewhere to be determined.

Caitlin, who'd remained completely unharmed, tended to Harry who hadn't had the same luck. She worked to wrap a gauze on the side of Harry's stomach in one of the side rooms.

"Thank you for rescuing me by the way," Caitlin said to him, thinking he had it very well deserved. Despite having problems amongst the team, at least they could say Harry was truly on their side.

"Well, we're a team, right?" Harry gave a tiny smile through his sore limbs.

"I'm impressed," Cisco came into the room, along with the rest.

"I think we all are," Belén corrected, patting him on the arm as she walked in.

"Yeah, well, we need to do something about Grodd," Joe got them moving along to the problem.

"Like what?" Caitlin asked.

"Like get rid of him for good."

Caitlin finished her work in time to freeze in her spot. "You want to _kill_ him?" she blinked, clearly surprised.

"Considering how many people he's killed, yeah."

Caitlin looked at the rest for some help. "This isn't Grodd's fault. He's only like this because Wells made him this way."

Barry could understand that her affection for the animal may have been a contributing factor for her opposition, so he tried being as kind as possible to make her see the issue. "Yes, but, Cait, he kidnapped you and you could have died."

"You didn't see what I saw. Grodd's getting smarter. He's lonely and sad," Caitlin argued softly. "He wants more apes like him."

"What are you saying? He wants kids?" Cisco made a face stricken with horror. "Cause I'm pretty sure one telepathic Grape Ape is more than enough for this city."

"I can see where you're coming from, Cait, but...you can't make more smart gorillas," Belén said, but then paused to think, "...can you?"

" _No_ ," Joe said sharply, hoping that no one got on that idea.

"I know somewhere we could send him," Harry suddenly said, getting up from the bed. "When the singularity exploded and I discovered the breach in S.T.A.R. Labs, I ran similar tests and discovered the same thing, 51 additional breaches." He made a beeline for the desks in the cortex and started up one of the computers. "The difference being the breaches in Central City are scattered all throughout the city whereas counterparts in my world most definitely are not."

"And you know where they lead?" asked Barry.

"Well, I was in the process of figuring all that out when Dr. Snow so gallantly convinced me to stay, but if I am correct, this breach-" Harry pulled one specific breech profile up on screen for them to see, "-is gonna get Grodd as close to home as he's ever likely to get."

"Okay, even if you're right, how do we bait Grodd to go through it?" Joe knew that the police were definitely out of this mission.

"My son'll do it," Henry answered, startling everyone but no one more than Barry. "Won't you, Flash?"

Barry's eyes widened and for the first couple of minutes he said nothing.

Belén cleared her throat quietly. "We could always, also, call in Nina. I figure she'd probably be more useful than me."

Barry swallowed and shook his head. "No. Grodd is going to have to face _me_ now. It's about time."

~ 0 ~

It didn't take much to bring Harry's plan to life. In a couple of hours, they were ready to go to bring Grodd into the new world.

"Cisco's at the spot," Iris reported from the desk and looked up Barry who was, after many days, finally back in his Flash suit. "You ready?"

"Caitlin, just be careful," Belén said for the third time to the brunette. She felt it was too early for Caitlin to get back in the field, and so close to Grodd. "And Barry, please, _please_ , be careful too."

Barry gave a small nod. "I will be back in one piece, you'll see."

"You better," Belén meant to be warning but her concern didn't allow for that.

"I will," Barry promised, slightly amused, and moved to Caitlin. "Ready to go, then?"

"Yeah," Caitlin spared her friends another look then let Barry take her away.

Belén then hurried to the desk where Iris was. When Joe and Henry rejoined them, Barry had already begun the game of chase with Grodd.

"How's it going?" Joe asked the two women, peering between them to get a look at the computers.

"Caitlin's safe and Barry is currently running away from Grodd," Belén replied.

"So Barry's gonna lure Grodd in front of the breach?" Henry asked just to be sure he understood the plan of the group.

"Yep, and once he gets him to the right spot, Cisco's gonna blast him into Earth-2 with his…" Iris failed to come up with the right word to describe Cisco's device.

"Thingamajig," her father finished for her, and the four had a small laugh.

"I think he said it was a speed canon," Belén tilted her head in thought. "He hates when we don't remember the names of his devices."

"Well, things have gotten a lot more complicated since I got out of prison," Henry remarked, giving a shake of his head.

"Mm-hmm. Man, you have no idea," Joe agreed with a hum.

They waited a couple of more minutes then switched to the street footage where they could see the breach Grodd was meant to go into. Grodd soon caught up with Barry and immediately inflicted his telepathic powers on the speedster. He effortlessly threw Barry across the street.

"Oh, my God!" Iris gasped, everyone beside her doing the same.

"I should have gone," Belén told herself repeatedly.

Henry took the comm. Microphone between her and Iris. "Get up, Barry. Now!"

They could see Barry was indeed doing his best to get back on his feet. However, it was a loss when Grodd put one of his heavy foot over Barry.

"You need to let him go, Grodd!" Caitlin's voice managed to draw the gorilla's attention for a moment. She was standing in a precise location - a spray-painted white circle.

"Flash is my enemy. Now you, too," Grodd declared, but Caitlin didn't falter.

"No. He was trying to save me from you. We didn't understand what you wanted, but now we do. I can give you what you want. I can give you a home. You just have to trust me."

Grodd lifted his foot off Barry and started coming at Caitlin. As soon as he was within the circle, Cisco activated the breech and Barry sped Caitlin out of the circle. Grodd was somewhat trapped by the breeches' force but there wasn't enough strength to snatch him entirely.

"Guys, what's going on with that full power switch?" Belén called to Cisco and Harry. "Two smart guys didn't think to invent that?"

"Uh, I'll have you know it _is_ at full power," came Cisco's indignant response.

Henry took the microphone again. "Barry, you can't let Grodd get free. Conquer your fears, son. Believe in yourself."

"Did I mention I'm like really glad you're here?" Belén looked up at the man. Henry smiled back at the woman.

Barry had performed his famous sonic punch which was enough to push Grodd into the breech and leave him trapped on Earth 2 for the time being.

~ 0 ~

After everything, the Reverse Flash's suit remained intact and literally standing on its own inside the cortex.

"That is just creepy," Belén said from the main desk, preferring to be far away from said yellow suit. "Make it go away." At the same moment she spoke, her phone vibrated in her pocket. Silently, she took it out to see a text.

"Before we do anything, maybe we can see how to get it back in the ring first," Barry dropped the old ring of their Wells into Cisco's palm. It would be a very useful thing to learn that trick. "Might be nice to have something like that instead of carrying around a bag all the time."

"I can help you with that," Harry raised a finger and immediately got all the looks from the group. "What? I know a thing or two about micro-technology."

Cisco shook his head. "Yeah, you know a thing or two about a lot of things."

Henry moved up the man in question, looking truly grateful. "Well, as long as what he knows keeps my son and these good people safe, the more you know, the better. Pleasure to meet you, Harrison. Again."

Harry shook hands with him. "Dr. Allen."

"Good to see you," Henry then said to Caitlin and Cisco.

"Let's go," Barry motioned to his father to lead the way out. On his way, he stopped by Belén to see if she was ready as well.

"Hm?" Belén quickly lowered her phone, an action that Barry didn't miss.

"You said you would come to lunch," Barry reminded, eyeing her phone suspiciously. "Are you okay?"

Belén nodded her head and put her phone away. Her mother was really a relentless woman. "Yes, of course. Lunch, then?" she pointed and started walking as well.

~ 0 ~

After making sure her phone was completely _off_ , Belén allowed herself to enjoy a nice lunch in the West residence along with Barry and his father. She even became more upbeat when Iris got sly and whipped out old albums of young Barry Allen throughout his years.

Henry had himself a good laugh after picking up a picture of a pre-teen Barry with some sort of experiment behind him. "Oh, this one is definitely a keeper!"

"Oh my God, what is that?" Belén tried making out said experiment and fully failed.

"Oh, yeah," Joe laughed as the memory came back to him. "He could've done your standard vinegar and baking soda volcano, but _no_ , Barry wanted to do a molecular structure of chocolate and nougat."

"What the hell is that?" Belén shot Barry a weird look.

"My favorite candy bar, that's what," Barry responded. "Make a mental note of that, okay?"

But Belén only made a face that had Iris laughing. "How you manage to keep me I have no idea," Belén promptly said then reached for another album nearby. Iris _needed_ to laugh louder. "Honestly, who does this stuff?"

"Why, a true science nerd," Henry added on, making both women laugh. "Like father, like son, I suppose."

"You mean it's heritable?" Iris nudged Belén on the side. "I feel for your kids."

While the idea had both Belén and Barry sporting blush faces, Belén still had courage for a loud scoff. "My kids will be adorable."

"What - hey!" came Barry's fully offended input.

"They are," Belén gave a shrug of her shoulders. "Because they're my kids."

Barry thought about it for a second and started to smile. "Yeah, if they're yours then they would be."

Belén smiled and passed another page of the album before suddenly gasping. "Oh! Do you know what you haven't seen yet?" she looked at Henry. "Your son is actually really good at karaoke singing!"

It took less than a second for Barry to become terrified.

Henry laughed at the idea. "Is he now?"

"Yes! Oh my God, I have the video if you want to see it!" Belén started reaching for her purse when Barry lunged for said purse and stuffed it behind his back.

"Dad, I think it's time to go," he then said promptly.

"Yeah," Henry agreed through his second laugh. "Joe, can I have…?" he raised the picture he'd kept of Barry's middle school experiment.

"Yeah," Joe of course agreed.

"Thanks," Henry got up and began to say his goodbyes. "Iris, thank you so much for reaching out to me. I am so glad you did."

Belén's upbeatness temporarily faded as she remembered how it had been Iris who'd done the right thing and call Henry in. Belén blamed herself for not being more attentive, but she would never hold it against Iris.

"Me, too," Iris smiled.

"Joe, there are no words, man. Thanks," Henry gave a hug to Joe right after Iris. "And Belén, really nice seeing you again."

"You should come by more often," Belén moved up and gave him a hug. "Then I could show you the video," she whispered.

"Belén!" Barry exclaimed.

"In secret," Belén added and sent a smirk towards her boyfriend.

"Bells," Barry handed Belén her purse back, now serious, "Mind if I stop by your place tonight after I catch up with some of my work?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," Belén agreed though wondered if it was really for the best. There were so many things going on with her she doubted if she would be able to keep it all in for another night.

"Great, I'll see you later, then," Barry gave her a chaste kiss on the lips and got going with his father.

"I have to go too," Belén slung her purse over her arm and helped stock the albums on the coffee table. "Need to have a talk with a mom."

"Still having problems, then?" Iris asked, and with a sigh Belén gave a nod.

"I have to figure something out or else she's going to keep sticking her nose in things and figure out secrets. Which reminds me," Belén turned to Joe, "she keeps looking into cases that you and Barry have had a handle on."

"By those I assume you mean metahuman cases?"

"Yeah. She's convinced there's something fishy about them. She's gone as far as getting Patty involved."

"Is that why she's so jumpy?" Joe chuckled.

"Working for Veronica Green does that to you," Belén shook her head.

"She can look into the cases all she wants but she's not going to find anything wrong with that. I promise," Joe raised a hand.

"I've no doubt about that, but thank you for telling me," Belén gave a warm smile to the two and took her leave.

~ 0 ~

As Barry had promised, he stopped by Belén's apartment later that night. She was already dressed in her pajamas, in case she fell asleep somewhere that wasn't her bed.

"You look extra tired," Barry had to remark once he got a good look at her.

"I feel like it," she shrugged and let herself drop onto the couch. "So many things..."

"I know," Barry took a seat next to her. "Joe told me about your Mom? Is she really that suspicious about our meta cases?"

"That and pretty much everything else," Belén sighed and brought a hand to rub her forehead. "My head's spinning and it's not leaving room for anything else. That's why it had to be Iris who thought to bring in your father. I was too busy and forgetful that Iris needed to fulfill my duties of your girlfriend."

Had it been any other moment, Barry would have laughed at that logic. Seeing Belén was truly upset thinking she somehow messed up, he knew he needed to deal with this delicately. "You can't always ignore your issues and your necessities."

Belén nodded her head to show she was understanding his points, but her face scrunched up with clear guilt. "But I love you, and I always want to be the one that helps you."

"I know that - believe me, I _know_ know," Barry cupped her face. "But you should never have to feel like your things come after mine. Talk to me. Tell me what's going on in your life and let _me_ me try to help you like you want to help me."

"She's my mom, _I_ should be able to handle her," Belén shook her head and pushed Barry's hands off her face. "But it's difficult when she doesn't understand you. She wants to know things about me that I can't share."

"You know, if it's about...the Azalea...you _can_ can tell her," Barry wanted to make sure that Belén didn't feel like she needed to hide all about STAR labs from her mother. He knew well how that made people feel, as well as how it ended when the person figured things out. "You can tell her about you, about STAR Labs, about me, anything."

"Thank you," Belén said first then sighed. "But I'm not sure I can. I'm just not sure how she'd take it."

"Okay, but in the meantime, what do you want to do? She's not going to stop asking questions…"

"I know…" Belén trailed off, hoping to come up with a solution to all her problems right there and then. "But I don't know," she croaked her last words before her emotions caught up with her. "I don't know anything except that I feel like I'm drowning."

"It's okay," Barry had pulled her into a hug. "We'll figure it out, I promise." Belén nodded but kept her head buried in his chest. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and kissed her hair. "Let's get you some sleep tonight and then...we'll start working on it." He knew that a full rest would definitely help bring up Belén's spirits.

It was a start.

~ 0 ~

Datura brought to life one of the small devices she'd taken from Mercury Labs. It sparkled white that could blind one if used properly. But, this time, Datura wasn't looking to kill. That wasn't the purpose her newest idea.

"You should have seen it," Poison Ivy sat at the edge of a rusty table. "They went up against one of those sentient gorillas."

Datura rolled her eyes. "They have those here too? Annoying. How'd Belén do?"

"Don't know. She didn't fight," Poison Ivy smirked when Datura stopped working to look back. "Yeah, she wasn't there."

"Hmm, maybe my game is working faster than I thought," Datura smiled to herself. "I can play some good mind games and she probably already knows it. Though the poor idiot probably doesn't even understand _why_ I can play these games so easily with her."

"If she has half a brain then she must already suspect," Poison Ivy's remark didn't affect Datura in the least.

"Please, she'd never guess," Datura took in a deep breath and pulled her hair behind her shoulders. She took off her mask and chucked it to the side. "Now come help me finish this damn thing already. I want it done as soon as possible."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

I'm going to be honest, I don't like Grodd nor his episodes which is probably why I skipped so much of that content. I'm not even sorry xD.

And I'm super excited for the next chapter because it's the Flarrow episodes and it includes the second Arrowverse OC I recently published! Hope you guys like her!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


	9. A Legend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash comes across a man hell-bent on killing Cisco's new girlfriend. As they try to stop him, they meet a mysterious woman also searching for the very man they are trying to stop. She calls herself the Jinx but according to the records, she doesn't exist. It leaves the question of where she came from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter (and the next) serve as the prequel for my story "Redemption", an OC Legends of Tomorrow fic that's already published on my profile! While the OC takes the name of a known canon villain, she will NOT be the same villain. She'll be a descendant.

A bright white and blue light appeared out of thin air in the middle of the woods, close to Central City. From it emerged a slim female figure. A metal device strapped to her wrist beeped with the same color of the portal. The woman aimed her wrist, that held the device, at the portal. It emitted a white light that seemed to the suck the portal right in. She started walking down the woods, her figure partially covered by the mist in the air.

"What's my location?" her English voice inquired.

' _About twenty miles off Central City, Miss Haynez_ ," a computerized voice from the wrist-device answered.

"And the date?"

" _November 17, 2017._ "

"Excellent," the woman grinned and walked even faster.

~ 0 ~

Joe and Patty stood on both sides of Barry, all three staring at the gruesome pictures of their newest case. Barry had already snapped the needed evidence pictures to bring back and examine, while also swiping any physical evidence pieces he could find. They'd found various corpses down at a dock with no surviving witness to the attack. But the blood spilled was...was on a whole other level.

"Man, this was a bloodbath," Joe said, truly surprised by what they were seeing. No metahuman had yet to be so violent.

"Done by one person," Barry put down the picture he held, setting it next to the other pictures on the desk.

" _One_ person did all this?" Patty quickly took another look at the pictures.

"Oh, yeah, you can see from the blood pattern," Barry tapped a finger over one picture, "This guy was shot first-" he moved his finger to the next picture, "-then the police chief, then these three were stabbed before finishing off the captain."

Patty knew she would never cease to be surprised. "Wow. Do you think a meta-human did it?"

"I don't know, but I found this in all of the stab victims' wounds," Barry picked up a small plastic bag with a piece of a golden knife. "It's some type of cryptocrystalline... Flint, most likely... Probably broke off the blade during the fight. I'll run it to make sure."

"Let's see what stores sell those kind of flint knives," Joe said to Patty and started heading out.

"Will do," Patty followed him. However, just at the threshold, she forced herself to stop and turned sideways. "Uh, Barry, do you know...if...if Belén is okay?" As Barry looked her way, Patty stepped back into the lab, looking pretty nervous. "It's just, the last time I spoke to her...it was about her Mom and...I haven't really spoken to her anymore, so...do you know if she's upset with me?" But even as Barry opened his mouth to assure it had nothing to do with her, Patty rambled on. "Because I really didn't want to cause problems." She just grew tired of Veronica always being on her case about all these mysterious cases handled by Joe and Barry. And to be honest, Patty didn't really see anything wrong with those cases. Joe and Barry had done what they could with those cases since they were all pretty much finished by the Flash and his team. What else could they, the regular ones, do?

"She's fine, Patty, and definitely not mad at you," Barry finally got a word in. Patty, relieved, began to smile. "She's just having problems with her Mom but it's between them I promise."

"Okay," Patty nodded, slowly convincing herself that Barry was telling the truth. "I wanted to make sure, sorry."

"Don't worry, I'll be sure to tell her you're worried," Barry smiled, actually touched that Patty felt this need to make sure their friendship was intact.

"Okay, thanks," Patty sheepishly smiled and finally went on her way.

As soon as she was gone, Barry released a breath and turned back to his work. He felt a bit sorry for Patty that she had to go through all this as an innocent bystander in the crossovers of Belén and her mother. He, himself, wasn't feeling all that well about it. He had to help Belén with her problems as well as be there to comfort her, and he had to take having her mother all around his workplace. Veronica Green was turning out to be a right nuisance but Barry would never say that out loud. He was trying to make himself understand that Veronica was trying to be a mother and care for her daughter...even if it did annoy the hell out of him sometimes.

~0~

Later that day, Barry had gone to STAR Labs to continue training with the help of Harry, and today Caitlin. While he ran on his special treadmill, Harry and Caitlin monitored his readings.

"He just hit 1,375," Caitlin read off the screens and looked at Harry, seeing he wasn't at all impressed.

"What's the fastest Barry's run?"

"Little over Mach two, when he ran back in time."

Harry remained unimpressed. "That's not good." He pushed the inter comm. button. "That's good, Barry." Caitlin shot him a look, not at all agreeing to lie. "We have our work cut out for us."

Barry came into the monitoring room, out of breath. "I'm not getting faster, am I?"

Caitlin awkwardly glanced at Harry for some help to be gentle. "Well…"

"No, you're not," Harry flatly said. Caitlin shut her eyes and inwardly sighed.

Barry did his best not to look so upset. "Alright, well, let's fix this, right? I mean, I can't beat Zoom at this speed. It felt like I was standing still next to him."

Before Caitlin could give him some words of reassurance, Harry coldly agreed. "That's because you practically were. Zoom is at least three, four times faster than you at this point."

Caitlin sighed. "How is he so much faster than Barry is and Jay was?"

"Physiology, form, strength, could be a number of things…" Harry paused and gave Barry a sharp study. "Attitude, diet."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Okay, all right, well, there's gotta be something we can do about it, so let's just figure it out... fast, okay?"

"We will," Caitlin nodded.

"Okay," Barry leaned off the threshold. "Where's Bells? She said she was coming here earlier."

"Off training with Cisco," Caitlin replied.

"Off also not doing as well, I should mention," Harry muttered, turning to the readings beside them.

Barry glared. He could take any criticism against _him_ but not about Belén. "She is doing her best, okay?"

"Her 'best' won't be okay when she's up against a siphoner and probably Poison Ivy."

"Let's not focus on that right now," Caitlin told the two before they started going back and forth in an argument. "Barry, Cisco has a date tonight so I doubt he and Belén will be practicing late."

"Thanks, Cait," Barry gave her a polite nod and went off without sparing a look at Harry.

~0~

"Ye-ha-ha!" Cisco punched the air after Belén managed to strike down three of his practice targets.

Belén's skin faded from its green shade, and as she released a breath, she returned to her normal self. With a grin on her face, she turned to where Cisco monitored her. "I got it?"

"Girl, you _got_ it!" Cisco laughed.

Belén glanced at the targets that were completely mangled with her vines. This was the first real session that worked in her favor and she could not be happier. She just tried to forget the fact these were targets and not the actual Datura. "Again?" she anxiously asked.

Cisco's excitement faded momentarily. "Well, uh, actually…"

Belén tilted her head and stared at her friend. "Cisco, you got plans?" she remembered he was still dating that barista and made her own conclusions. "Is there a date I'm butting into?"

Cisco pursed his lips. "I, n-no, not...not butting...no…"

Belén laughed and started walking towards him. "So butting in. I'm not going to ruin your date with the-" she cleared her throat and mimicked his voice, "-lovely Kendra Saunders."

Cisco mockingly glared at her. "Not funny!"

"Yeah, so funny actually," Belén had herself a good laugh.

Cisco raised an eyebrow, and thought of the quickest way to get her back. "Alright then, Mrs. Allen, you want a lift back home?"

And Belén's laughter ceased to exist. Her face went utterly red.

Cisco victoriously smirked.

~0~

When Cisco finished his round of laughter, he finally took Belén home in order to make it in time to his own date. Belén wearily made her way up to her own apartment. She unlocked her door and stepped inside, only to be surprised by finding Barry already there.

"So, since it's been a long while, and I figured you're tired, movie date-night?" Barry gestured to the various snacks set on her coffee table and to the television already turned on.

Belén started smiling and walking towards him. "You're the best boyfriend _ever._ " She slung her arms around his neck and planted a kiss on his lips.

"I like to think I am," Barry chuckled alongside her. He kissed her temple and sat them down on the couch.

"Making you a second key was the best thing I ever did," Belén reached for a box of licorice while Barry picked a movie for them.

"Yeah, I heard you went training with Cisco so I thought a nice relaxing night was something you would like," Barry shrugged. He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

"I think we _both_ needed it," Belén hummed. She rested her head on his chest and smiled when she remembered her gain earlier. "I took down some particularly hard targets."

"That's great!" Barry shifted a bit on his side to meet Belén's happy face.

"Now if I can do that with Datura I'll be golden," Belén drew in a deep breath. Datura had been gone for a few days now, as well as Zoom, and while she tried to be happy about it she couldn't help feel like Datura was up to something. She would return with something worse for them.

"We'll find a way," Barry pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "You want to pick a movie?"

"Uh, how about my favorite musical? Mamma Mia?"

Barry pretended to groan. "We've watched that like 50 times already!"

"So the 51st shouldn't be so hard anymore," Belén grinned innocently. "Promise to give you kisses throughout the movie?"

Barry pretended to think about the deal. "You mean it?"

Belén rolled her eyes at him. "Sure."

"No, but you gotta say it like you mean it!"

Belén grabbed him by the collars of his shirt and kissed him for a good minute. "How's that for meaning it?"

Barry's face was so dazed, just like his mind. She started laughing at him which pulled him out of his trance. "That's not funny!"

"It is from my end!"

"Belén would you-" But Barry was cut off at the sound of both his and Belén's phones going off at the same time.

"So much for movie night," Belén fished her phone out of her jean's pocket. "Huh, it's Cisco."

"He's in trouble," Barry realized. "I thought he was on a date but..."

"We need to go!" Belén exclaimed as she got up from the couch. Though she grabbed some licorice on their way out.

~ 0 ~

Jitters at night time had never looked as bad as it did to Cisco right now. Kendra had tried to create a perfect date for them by cooking dinner for them and having a movie ready to go over the rooftop. Everything would've been dandy had it not been for the strange man with a long beard and a long coat who decided to stop by.

Vandal Savage was not a patient man. What he wanted he got, and Kendra Saunders would not be the exception. He chucked forwards a silver weapon but missed as Cisco and his date, Kendra, jumped to the sides. Barry sped in with Belén and while the former attempted to punch Savage directly, Savage semeed to be ready for it.

Belén, on the other hand, went to Cisco and Kendra and helped them get up. "Who the hell is that guy?"

"I wish I knew!" Cisco said with the biggest scowl on his face. "He's ruining our date!"

Belén looked back when she heard Barry's body crash over a table. "I think your date is the least of our problems right now!" Belén struck a vine forwards to pay Savage with the same coin. It struck him to the side and as she was charging for him, a wave of purple energy came bursting through the door and, as simple as it sounded, it made Belén slip on the floor.

Savage thought it was his lucky moment as he pulled himself off the floor. "Pathetic," he spat first then attempted to continue with his own attack.

However, a woman appeared at the entrance with the most visible hatred on her face. "There you are," she, too, spatted but at Savage only.

Savage turned around, surprised someone would speak to him in that familiarity since he had never seen the woman in his life. "Who are you?"

"Doesn't matter," the woman briefly made eye contact with the others in the room. "If everything goes well you'll never know my name." She started smirking for some reason, but she decided to let Savage in on her secret. She pointed up to the ceiling. Savage followed her gaze and missed the light purple energy beam emit from the her fingertip. It hit the curtains above them and caused the poles sustaining it to creak and come collapsing down.

"Hey!" Barry sped towards them and pushed them out into the roadside.

"NOOO!" the woman screeched as her body tumbled against a mailbox. She shook her head and the pain from her fall to see where Savage had landed. It had been too late, though, because he was gone. "NO!" she screamed frantically and got up from the ground. "I had him!"

"You know him?" Barry called from his spot, eyeing the woman suspiciously. He only looked away to see Belén, Cisco and Kendra running out from Jitters to see where they landed.

The mysterious woman rose from the ground and blew on the hair in front of her face. Her light brown hair that was just above her shoulders framed her youthful face. Her eyes were dark and fierce, and _very_ angry, though Barry realized it wasn't geared towards him.

_Thank God because she's scary_ , he thought.

She wore a purple and black leather outfit that started off with a sleeveless, purple crop-shirt that had a small v-neck style. There was a bit of a black outline defining the v-neck style. Though, the crop shirt seemed to be connected at the armpits to a black, short-sleeved coat. Said coat covered the sides of her stomach, remaining permanently opened, and formed a long, twisted tail behind her. She wore knee-length, black boots over dark purple pants. And to finish it off, she had a dark, purple choker around her neck.

"I know him enough," the woman dusted herself off. She looked him over with great interest, then glanced at Belén to do the same. Her lips curled into a smile once she recognized them. "And I know you two - I read about you. History's even better when you see it with your own eyes."

"Who the hell are you?" Belén went straight for the question. She had enough with mysterious metas coming into their city to terrorize their people. "And do you know that man?"

The woman seemed to debate whether or not she should disclose her identity, but after a minute she gave a small nod. "You can call me...Jinx. And that man? It doesn't matter because I'm going to find him and kill him before he hurts anyone else. So, for everyone's sake, best stay out of my way, Azalea, Flash. I don't mean this city harm except for that man," Jinx warned and stepped forwards. "He's _mine_."

Jinx swung an arm forwards and shot purple beams again that forced the fire hydrant near Barry to shoot a violent gush of water directly at him and the others. It was how she made her escape.

~ 0 ~

The next day, everyone reported to STAR Labs to discuss what Belén, Barry, Cisco (and Kendra) dealt with. It also revealed that Cisco had, rather stupidly, revealed to Kendra that Barry was the Flash. Both Harry and Joe were still giving Cisco disapproving stares.

"I can't believe you're The Flash," Kendra could not stop saying, then glancing to Cisco, "And that you work with The Flash."

Cisco chuckled but was of course still hitting himself for his imprudence. "Yeah, let's keep that on the DL."

"And you're the Azalea," Kendra pointed at Belén with the same awe.

"You are so incredibly stupid my friend," Belén patted Cisco's arm and shook her head.

"Agreed," went Harry under his breath but still received a sharp glance from Cisco.

"Alright, so what exactly happened?" Caitlin asked the group in question.

"There was an mass homicide at the docks two nights ago and it left behind a scrap of knife that I analyzed," Barry pointed to the gold knife laying on the table. "It's the same knife used to kill the men at the docks. Residue is a perfect match."

"So it is the same guy," Joe noted.

"Definitely. But the thing is, these blades are old, _centuries_ old."

"He nicked it off some museum then," Belén theorized.

"Do you have any idea why this guy would be after you?" Iris decided to question Kendra on anything that could help them.

"No, I've never seen him before in my life," Kendra swore to them all.

"Lots of these metahumans often don't have reasons to go after a person," Caitlin reminded, and everyone missed Barry's unsure expression.

"Well, he was certainly acting like he knew you," Cisco looked at Kendra. "He kept calling her Priestess Chay-Ara."

"That's Coptic," Harry pointed.

"In English, please?" Belén motioned for the translation.

"He means Egyptian," Caitlin said, though she herself still seemed a bit unsure.

"You know, that woman - Jinx - she was talking in a way like...like she knew about timelines," Barry remembered the strange woman. "Like you say-" he said to Cisco, "-that the guy was talking to you two."

"You think they're connected?" Caitlin asked.

"I can't be sure but she definitely wants him dead," Barry nodded.

"Iris and I were doing research on her and check out what we found," Belén moved over to the computers with Iris. "I mean, at first all we came across when we typed in 'Jinx' were these weirdos on the internet."

"Not surprising," Joe said on the side.

"But we had to figure out what she was," Iris continued, "Is she a metahuman? What can she do?"

"Oh c'mon," Cisco interrupted them, almost rolling his eyes, "The woman named herself _Jinx_ \- what does that tell you? She's bad luck, people!"

The others had to agree on the powers of the stranger.

"Killer name," Cisco had to add.

"But it's deeper than that," Belén started bringing up different headlines from different times, along with different pictures of women. "We didn't find one single picture of our mystery Jinx, but we found boatloads of other women from previous years with the same name."

Barry stepped forwards to get a better look at the different pictures. "They're all named Jinx?"

"Jinx, the Jinx, it's the same name really but they're all from different areas," Iris pointed out. "They're mostly grouped in America and England, though."

"Well, our Jinx had an English accent so we should focus on England," Barry said.

"But even then," Belén pulled down the tabs that weren't dealing with the English Jinxes, "None of them relate to ours. They have no similar appearances, but they do have one thing in common: they're all well known criminals in their times."

"And bad ones," Iris added to make sure they understood they were not dealing with their regular metas. "They have some wicked crimes under their names."

"Were any of them ever brought in?" asked Cisco, now feeling like he had to swallow down a ball in his throat.

"No," went the two reporters together.

"An interesting thing is that each Jinx seemed to disappear in their older years," Belén started going through some of the profiles for show, "1940s London Jinx disappeared when she was around 50. 1990s Bristol Jinx disappeared around her 60s. Before 1940, we had another Jinx in Cambridge who disappeared in her 60s."

"It's like they retiring or something," Kendra said as a light-hearted joke, but her words rang truth for some of the others.

"It could be like a mantle passing down generations," Caitlin theorized as she walked up to stand beside Barry in front of the screen on the wall. "Each Jinx has their daughter, or a niece, and once that daughter or niece becomes ready they take the place of the elder Jinx."

"That's great but how does this help us right now?" asked Joe.

"It lets us know that we're dealing with someone who knows her way around a fight," Belén crossed her arms. "If I had to say, she's had some good training based on these previous Jinxes. Our Jinx may be the current one and she's just getting started. She's a criminal and we have to bring her down too. But to find her, I'm guessing we need to find this man first. So," she turned around and looked directly at Kendra, "Why does this man have it out for you."

Kendra was startled with the implication that she would know why she was being targeted. "I...I don't know. I don't know either of them."

"This guy, he's clearly incredibly dangerous as well as Jinx, so I need you to at least let us try to protect you," Barry said, hoping she would listen to them on the first try. Thankfully, Kendra agreed.

"I can put a detail on her," Joe offered.

Cisco shook his head. "You didn't see this guy, Joe. No offense, but I don't think a cop is going to be able to protect her."

"To be fair, they are getting better with metahumans," Belén meant to be kind but even Barry agreed the police weren't up for this sort of task.

"We're going to need some friends' help...in Star City."

Belén gaped, as did everyone else who understood what Barry meant.

~ 0 ~

A short moment after giving a brief description of their plan, Belén and Cisco went after Barry to try and discuss the matter.

"What could possibly be that bad that we need to leave the city?" Belén asked that while staring at both men, knowing there was something one of them wasn't explaining. "Scratch that-" she made a motion with her hands, "-what's so bad that you want to go to Oliver for help?"

"I mean, she's sort of right…" Cisco swayed his head, giving Belén a clear understanding that Cisco was just as lost as she was. "We've fought meta-humans with abilities a lot worse than knife-throwing."

"I don't think this guy's a meta-human. There's something different about him…" Barry thought for the right word, "...something, ah, mystical. Even Jinx seems kind of _off_."

Belén and Cisco exchanged unimpressed glances.

"Mystical, really?" Cisco repeated.

"We stop meta-humans because we're scientists. We can figure out what their weaknesses are, but we don't have any experience when it comes to guys like this, with magic. They do."

"Are you sure Oliver is going to want to help us, though?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"He'd probably be more inclined if a certain pretty girl asked nicely," Barry sent her a cheeky smile.

"Sure, let me get Felicity on the line," Belén crossed her arms.

"That could help too!"

Belén groaned. "On one condition."

"Which would be…?"

"I want to come too."

It was easy to tell Barry wasn't exactly liking that idea. "I - this guy is dangerous, Bells. He's not even a metahuman and it scares me!"

"You're forgetting that when I was training with Oliver I had my fair share of non-metahuman ass to kick," Belén continued with arms crossed and a straight face. "What else you got?"

Barry looked at Cisco for some help. Cisco quickly put his hands up, deciding this was not his argument. "I'm just going to go tell Kendra when we leave…" he made up fast and rushed away.

"Well, what excuse you do you have for me?" Belén challenged rather smoothly.

Barry racked his mind for the kindest, gentlest, way to make her see his logic. "Your Mom, Sherlock-cop, is behind you like a hawk. What do you think she's going to do if you leave the city all of a sudden?"

Belén faltered with that idea planted in her head. "Well, I...I don't…"

"You haven't decided if you want to tell her anything about all this-" Barry made a gesture to the place, "-and I think if you leave and all of a sudden there's sightings of the Azalea in Star City where she'll inevitably know you went to...don't you think she might put two and two?"

Belén thought about it with the time and effort the matter deserved and ultimately knew that Barry was right. "I hate dating a scientist sometimes."

"No you don't," Barry chuckled.

"I really do - sometimes I just wanna hit you with your stupid books!"

"You're just cranky and I'll let all those comments go," Barry pulled her into a hug, ignoring her muffled 'I'm not cranky' as he held her tightly.

~ 0 ~

Patty was once more looking over the evidence left behind by Barry on their bloodbath homicide case. She no longer felt surprised having Veronica constantly peer over her shoulders to observe the case as well.

"You could just take a seat, you know," Patty went ahead and handed one of the pictures to Veronica.

This time, Veronica made no snappy response. She merely took the picture and studied it. Patty looked up to see the older woman's blank face. It didn't appear Veronica was even examining the picture in her hand.

Although she felt awkward asking, Patty forced herself to be just polite and talk. "Is everything alright?"

Veronica seemed to snap out of her trance and put the picture down on Patty's desk. "Yes, of course. Um, so are there any leads on that knife bit yet?"

"No, not yet, it's in the process…" Patty answered the question out of professionalism but couldn't stop the conversation there, not when she was sure that it had to do with Belén. "Detective Green, are you sure there isn't anything wrong?"

Veronica gave Patty a long look before shaking her head and leaving the office room. On her way out, she bumped into Joe, and she called it her streak of unluckiness for that day. "I'm sorry," she gave a polite apology then hastily tried getting away.

"Detective?" Joe turned after her. "Are you alright?"

Veronica groaned but came to a halt and turned sideways. "I could do without your fake care, Joe. We all know you and your adoptive son are praying for me to get the hell out of this place."

Joe was not expecting that type of hostility against him personally, maybe a little for Barry. "Uh, it's _not_ fake, and I would appreciate if you left Barry out of your problems with your daughter." Veronica, raising an eyebrow, slowly turned around. "It can't be easy to try and rebuild a relationship with your estranged daughter but Barry has only ever tried to make your daughter happy."

Veronica looked around, probably reminding herself that they were not alone to make a spectacle. She came back to Joe, speaking lowly between them. "I don't deny that he is. Truth be told, he seemed like a very a nice young man the times I have been with him an Belén. That, however, does not excuse all the sketchy cases done between you and him and those metahumans. It does not excuse the fact that I know he and Belén are hiding something from me - something that you know about as well. Now I think knowing all this, and putting yourself in my perspective, you would understand my reasons to have a little dislike towards your son."

At that, Joe could not and would not argue. He remembered when he first found out that Barry had begun making rounds in the city trying to be a hero. He felt a deep pit of terror in his stomach, and a big case of helplessness. In the end, a parent - no matter if it's biological or adoptive - only wanted their children to be safe. Veronica, at the moment, could not fulfill that desire because Belén had not told her the truth.

"If you'll excuse me, Detective, I need to go work on our latest case," Veronica spoke in her regular tone and walked away.

~ 0 ~

"So they're just gone, then?" Iris stood beside Belén at the latter's desk, both holding cups of coffees. Iris was still in the dark about Oliver Queen's vigilante's side and therefore only knew Barry was going to the Arrow in the next city.

Belén gave a small nod. "Mhm. I wanted to go but Barry pulled out his logical crap that I usually lose at, so…"

Iris smiled teasingly. "Been there so many times. It's annoying, actually."

"You're telling me. Now here I am, doing my work," Belén motioned to her computer where a half-written article was.

"And that-" said a new, female voice, "-is never something to be so glum about."

Belén quickly leaned forwards on her chair, just as Iris turned to the side and giving Belén a clear view of CC Pictures' visitor. "Laurel?" a great smile spread across Belén's face as she got up.

Laurel Lance stood tall and cheery at the doorway, happy to see her lifelong friend.

"What are you doing here?" Belén put down her cup on her desk and went to greet Laurel.

"I am visiting my mother and I thought why not stop by to visit my friend?" Laurel gave Belén a hug and whispered, "And to talk about the Azalea."

Belén pulled away with a chuckle. "It's okay, Laurel, she knows," she made a gesture back to Iris. "Laurel, this is Iris West. She's my co-worker and almost sister."

"Laurel Lance," Laurel shook hands with Iris. "Childhood friend."

"Ah, so then you have some embarrassing stories I could slip through to Barry," Iris sent Belén a teasing smile. "He gets on my nerves complaining about your teases."

"Not my fault he's a dork."

"Watch it," Iris pointed, but of course teased too.

"This is a new article, then?" Laurel peered down at Belén's computer.

"Still working on it."

"Nice," Laurel took a seat in Belén's chair then knowingly smiled at the two women. "I stopped by to see if my friend wanted to go out to lunch?"

"Oh, I'd love to, but I already made..." Belén was looking at Iris who was now shaking her head.

"You're good, Bells, just go," Iris smiled. "But hey, maybe we can all have dinner tonight?"

"Works with me," Laurel looked at Belén.

"Same. It might even be good to get Caitlin," Belén added. "Poor thing's been working hard with Harry lately."

"Harry?" Laurel gave a questioning face.

"I'll explain," Belén promised and went to gather her things.

~ 0 ~

As Laurel and Belén walked down the street towards Jitters for their lunch, Belén caught Laurel up with the latest in Central City - well the bits Laurel wasn't aware of. Of course the news of a new speedster terrorizing the city had made it into StarCity's newscasts several times, especially when Zoom confronted the Flash.

"You'd think there being multiple dimensions would freak me out…" Laurel raised her head, processing everything she'd heard with great calmness, "...but no."

"Quite the lives we live, huh?" Belén smiled to herself. "While it can be dazzling and happy...it's got some terrible drawbacks."

"Yeah, but...would you give it up?"

Belén right away shook her head. "Never. It's how I met my friends...it's how Barry and I got together. I'd keep it just the way it is no matter how bad things get." Laurel chuckled.

Jitters wasn't as packed as one would think it would be during lunch hour. Laurel and Belén took a seat at one of the empty tables after ordering.

"So then, are we going to talk about this whole Azalea thing?" it was easy to tell this was the topic that drew Laurel to find Belén again. "I mean, last time we talked, you were pretty hell bent on making sure the Azalea stayed dead."

"To be fair, the last time we spoke I felt like my life was over," Belén countered. "My brother had just died, my sister was sent to prison, two of my friends died, my boyfriend broke up with me...and I had gained custody of Axel." The entire memories made Belén stop to take a breather. "I was not at a good place then."

"But now you are," Laurel noticed with a genuine delight.

"I went to therapy," Belén admitted. "Actually, I still go. It's less but Dr. Baeva says that's a good thing."

"And you felt good enough to bring back the Azalea?"

"Yeah," Belén nodded her head, her eyes flickering to the side. "I thought the Azalea should stay dead so that I could move on, but...I don't want to do that. I don't think I could ever do that. Just like you fight to be the Black Canary, I fight to be the Azalea."

Laurel was so proud to hear her friend talk like this after so much despondence. "Exactly!"

"Unfortunately, it also resonates from the fact there's this psycho metahuman from Earth 2 trying to kill me."

"That's this Datura woman, right? I read about her too."

"Yeah. According to E-2 Dr. Wells, Datura has siphoning powers along with being one of the most poisonous metahumans on his earth."

"Now wait a minute, she siphons AND and she has powers based on this poisonous plant?"

"Yeah. Though sometimes I wonder how that works, because…" Belén trailed off, still thinking, "...Harry says that, back on his world, there were rumors about Datura...not being all the way there," Belén tapped the side of her head. "She would disappear for weeks and then resurface with new powers. At the same time, there were series of murder sprees where the cops would find corpses of metas possessing similar plant powers like Datura."

"Do you think Datura could've been looking for something in those metas?"

"That's our theory, and it's my theory that I have what she's looking for," Belén sighed, "I just don't know what it is. So, in the meantime, she's here...terrorizing my city, beating the crap out of me."

"Well, you gotta look at this from a different perspective," Laurel got to thinking for a moment. "You say she's a siphoner but...she calls herself Datura? Why? That's just one flower, one power she possesses, right?"

"I've thought about that too," Belén admitted. "Believe me, I've gone crazy thinking of her and her powers."

"So, what have you come up with?"

"Well, I theorize that the datura power could be either the first power she siphoned and thus became her baseline of all powers, or…" Belén stopped all of a sudden.

"Or?"

"Or they could be something of importance to her. Not physical importance but _emotional_."

"Why would she name herself after only one power when she's a siphoner?" Laurel smirked as now Belén was getting somewhere with her thoughts.

"Emotional importance," Belén answered, far more sure now that she had spoken her theories out loud. "You name yourself after your powers, after what makes you, _you_. I named myself the Azalea because I love those flowers. Gardening Azaleas and other flowers was my favorite pastime, my way to unwind and just..be me. I doubt Datura did gardening...she had to have named herself Datura for another reason."

"I miss this Belén," Laurel blurted, and the two shared a laugh.

~ 0 ~

Later that day, when her shift was over, Belén stopped by STAR Labs to see how Caitlin was holding up with Harry on her own. She found the two working at the prime desk in the cortex.

"Afternoon," she greeted and only spared the computer screens a brief look, knowing already she wouldn't understand their work. "So what are you scientists working on today?"

"We may have just created a way to help Barry become faster," Caitlin could barely contain her excitement. Harry had no problem.

"Really?" Belén loved hearing that and was sure that Barry would too. "What is it?"

However, before either Caitlin or Harry could explain, Jay had come in. He soon saw the computer screens himself and scowled.

"Velocity-6?" there was a trace of disbelief in his tone which put both Belén and Caitlin off. "This is what was so urgent, Harrison? You get me to come here so I can take your speed drug?"

Harry, on the other hand, remained at ease and simply pointed at Jay for being correct. "That's right."

Jay gave an incredulous look at Caitlin. "You knew about this."

"Of course she did," Harry answered for her. "She figured it out."

"What's the big deal?" Belén cut in. She definitely was not up for another physical fight between the two men.

"I thought this was to help Barry," Caitlin was on the same page as Belén.

"It _is_ to help Barry-" Harry said, "-which is why we need to do test runs on subjects who once had the Speed Force in their system."

Jay was not having this. "The Speed Force doesn't work like that. It's not something you can create in a lab."

"How do you think you became the Flash, Garrick? By me and a lab," Harry reminded, and Belén did have to admit that it rang some truth. That _is_ what their Wells had done to give Barry his powers in the first place. "Science is what did this to you, to Barry, to Zoom, and science is what we need to stop Zoom, and this is our only option."

"Find another one," Jay didn't hesitate to shut down the work, even if it was Caitlin's. "The Speed Force can't be replicated or enhanced. It's a living thing. It's a gift that was given to me. That drug... you have no idea what it's gonna do. I'm not going to let another one of your experiments mess with me again, Harrison. You find someone else to be your guinea pig."

"It's a _drug_?" Belén immediately saw the problem and turned on Harry. "You're giving my Barry a drug?"

"Keep that serum away from Barry," Jay warned her and Caitlin before storming away.

Harry had put on his black jacket and a hat in the meanwhile. Caitlin turned on him too and questioned his plans.

"To pick up what we need!"

"We can't give Barry whatever you're planning on," Belén snapped but the man started heading out.

"We're gonna do what we need," Harry left them with those words.

Caitlin, exasperated plopped down on a chair. She saw Belén's horrific stare after the threshold. "If I knew what it was, I would have never…"

"I know Cait," Belén assured. "I mean...is it wrong, though? It's like...steroids, right? But to make you faster?"

Caitlin nodded. "That's the idea."

"But...but would it have side effects? Like bad ones?"

"Jay seemed pretty sure that it wasn't the right thing…"

"I honestly don't know who to believe anymore. Jay doesn't bother to show up and help and when he does show up it's to shoot down all of our ideas."

Caitlin of course tried to make Jay look better. "I-it can't be easy having to lose your powers, and...you know? I just...we shouldn't be hard on him That's all I'm saying."

Belén smiled knowingly at the brunette. "Right. So listen, I stopped by to ask if you wanted to come to dinner with Laurel, Iris and I."

"Laurel?" Caitlin repeated. "As in Laurel Lance the Black Canary?"

"The one and only," Belén smirked.

"But I thought…"

"She's here alone. She didn't even know Barry and Cisco had gone to meet Oliver. So, you want to come?"

Caitlin looked at the computer screens still showing Velocity-6, then glanced back at the threshold. "I don't know. I think someone should stay here and hold the fort. And by that I mean check to see what Harrison is doing."

Belén thought that was a rational mindset and thought about her own choices. "You know what, I think I should stay too. I wouldn't want you to overwork yourself."

"No, Bells, it's okay. I know you haven't seen Laurel in a long time."

"But I don't want you to stay here all alone…"

"I'll be fine," Caitlin promised. "Go out. I think you deserve some time out."

"Okay, but afterwards I'm coming back here to keep you company. I'll even bring you something," Belén grabbed her purse.

"That would be nice," Caitlin smiled.

~ 0 ~

Setting the dinner date at eight, Belén took her sweet time to get ready. She pulled out a nice white blouse with fitted slacks and some heels. Applying some makeup and doing the hair took about an hour but she was still on time. Just as she was getting ready to leave, someone knocked on her door.

No longer was Belén surprised to see her mother making a visit.

"I'm not going to argue - I don't have time to," Belén snapped before her mother could start shouting. "I have a dinner to get to and then to STAR Labs with Caitlin."

Veronica didn't appear to have the fighting in her, something that even Belén saw right away. "Why STAR Labs?"

"Because Caitlin is there. Anymore questions?" Belén went back to the living room for her purse and phone.

"Honestly, Belén, I don't know why you keep going to that hazardous building. What's the point?"

Belén snorted. "Did you really come by to ask me that?"

Something snapped inside Veronica and she shook her head, straightening herself up. "No, of course not. I came to talk."

"We've done that, countless times," Belén returned with her purse strap hanging around her wrist. "It doesn't work out. Tonight I'd like to skip it."

"If you would just-"

"I have to go," Belén cut her off smoothly and ushered Veronica out the door. "You want to talk tomorrow morning then fine. Tonight I'm not letting you tarnish my mood."

Veronica let her daughter go without another word. It appeared she was really driving that wedge between them, and she feared how far it would go. A ringing from her pocket brought her out from her thoughts. It was a text from work.

~ 0 ~

"No Caitlin?" Iris asked when Belén had joined her and Laurel at the restaurant they'd agreed at.

"No, she and Harry are working," Belén decided to leave out the potentially dangerous serum out of the conversation for the moment.

"I'd love to have seen her," Laurel remarked while taking a look at their menus.

"Maybe tomorrow, then?"

"I guess." Belén honestly made it her life's effort to not show how upset she already was thanks to her mother's surprise visit. Without Barry around, she felt like she truly needed just some friends with her to make her forget how crappy her life was at the moment.

It was nice to forget that she wasn't a metahuman being hunted, and that she was in danger. After all, these were the moments when her life was supposed to be at its best. She'd finished college a long while ago, she snatched herself a good job, even went back to doing what she'd originally wanted to (aerial dancing). Along the way she'd met some really good people who slowly became like her family.

She deserved to remember that part of her life.

~ 0 ~

"So you're telling me that this flint knife is thousands of years old?" Veronica reviewed what Patty had told her just to make sure she wasn't getting anything wrong.

"Yeah, I'm surprised too, believe me," Patty gave a shrug of her shoulders.

The two women were walking down the street, discussing the matters of their bloodbath case. Patty had finally gotten news on the evidence Barry had gotten earlier and now Veronica was looking over the case file.

"But it means it couldn't have been on the market…" Veronica deduced and glanced at Patty.

The blonde hummed in agreement. "We checked and there are no records of it belonging to some set in local museums. We're expanding the search but even then it doesn't really look like it belongs anywhere."

"Except history books," Veronica closed the file and looked up. As soon as she did, she spotted a familiar figure across the street. A man was loading something into the back of a car.

"Are you alright?" Patty stared at the woman for a bit, worried.

Veronica's eyebrows knitted together. "It can't be."

"What…?" Patty meant to follow Veronica's gaze but Veronica quickly ushered Patty to her own car. "Hey! What about that ca-"

"I'm going to look it over for tonight and tomorrow we'll talk again! Goodnight, Patty!" Veronica then made her own mission as she hurried to her own car.

~ 0 ~

Caitlin had been giving Harry disapproving stares ever since he returned to STAR labs on the plan of finishing up the serum for Barry. Despite that, Harry didn't desist.

"We can't use that serum on Barry," Caitlin gave a crinkled-nose glance at the silver gun meant to inject said serum.

"That's up to him, isn't it?" Harry cleverly countered with. Caitlin frowned knowing that, in the end, it really was all Barry's decision whether or not to take the serum. "If Barry wants to stop Zoom, this is what he needs."

"Jay said it could hurt Barry-"

"Well, Jay's a coward," Harry pushed through the serum into the gun with a 'pop!'.

Caitlin huffed, clearly offended on behalf of Jay. "Jay's a scientist who knows a lot about speedsters!"

"You're a scientist, Snow. You've been watching Barry. You know he's nowhere near as fast as he needs to be," Harry snapped, reaching his patience with these people. "This other mentor, this other Harrison Wells, did not want him to reach his full potential... I do."

Caitlin glowered. "You know, you're really starting to sound a lot like him." She didn't want to be anymore of a part of the serum and walked into one of the side rooms, hoping that Harry would gain some sense in the meanwhile.

Harry could care less what Caitlin thought and turned the silver gun over to make sure the serum had been injected right.

"I knew it was _you_ ," Veronica's voice made him stop his work. She had come into the place with a gun in her hands, aimed directly at Wells.

"Who are you?" Harry, of course, had not met the woman before.

"I don't know how you did it, how you managed to survive while my son died, my daughter sent to jail and my youngest so... _lost_ -" Veronica gritted her teeth, "-but you won't be escaping this time. You're under arrest."

Harry deduced that the woman had to be talking about his doppleganger, who up to now had apparently done no good to anyone in this world. "I'm Harrison Wells but I'm not the Harrison…"

Veronica threatened again with her gun after Harry took a step forwards. "Stop! You move closer, and I'll shoot."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Give me that-" he raised the silver gun still in his hand and Veronica mistook that as a threat and so she shot him.

The moment Harry collapsed on the floor, Caitlin came running in, going out of her mind with the scene. "Oh, my God, what have you done? Harrison? Harrison, stay with me. Harrison, Harrison, stay with me!" she didn't know how to quite move him without hurting him even more. "Stay with me, Harrison, come on." She shot Veronica a snarky look. "Why did you shoot him?"

"I thought that was a gun!" Veronica exclaimed and motioned to the silver gun on the floor. "That's Harrison Wells! He's meant to be dead-"

"Oh, and you decided to go ahead and finish that job!?"

"What - excuse you! I followed him thinking he was back to no good again! That was after I processed the fact he wasn't dead like Belén told me!"

Caitlin growled and got up from her spot. "I have to call Belén! And Nina!"

"What is going on!?" Veronica watched Caitlin run over to the desk to get on that phone call.

"Ms. Green, I will let your daughter do that explaining! Right now you're going to help move him-" Caitlin pointed at Harry, "-to a bed."

Veronica's eyes flickered from Harry to Caitlin incredulously.

~ 0 ~

Of course the moment Belén - and consequently Iris and Laurel - heard what happened at STAR Labs, dinner was cancelled. Belén came running in with Iris and Laurel behind, only to see Caitlin and Nina Clarke tending to Harry's unconscious self. Veronica still remained in the cortex, glowering at the two doctors but still primarily confused.

" _What_ happened!?" Belén hastily walked up to her two friends.

"I shot him, that's what," Veronica was the one to answer, and quite aggressively too. She still didn't understand what was going on. As far as she knew, Harrison Wells was meant to be on his way to the hospital to be treated and then promptly shipped off to Iron Heights.

"Why would you do that?"

Veronica blinked rapidly, unsure if she'd heard right. "Y-you're asking me...why I shot the man who murdered my ex-husband, and destroyed my children's lives?"

Belén remained quiet. Of course to her mother, it was a stupid question.

"How is he doing?" Laurel neared Caitlin and Nina.

"He's losing oxygen," Caitlin shook her head.

"Nina, you can't do anything?" Iris went along with Laurel.

"There's a bullet in a branch of his pulmonary artery that's blocking off most of the blood flow from the left lung," Nina was quite serious in the matter. "And I can't remove the bullet without causing too much damage."

"You need Jay," Caitlin suddenly thought of and looked at Belén.

"Go, call him," the ombre-blonde gave a nod.

"Belén…" Veronica stared at her daughter hard, "...what the hell is going on?"

Belén looked at her friends and then back at her mother. There really was no way out of explaining this unless she felt like looking like a crazy person. Running a hand through her hair, she began to spill. "That man-" she gestured to Harry, "-is _not_ the Harrison Wells you think he is."

Veronica's eyes squinted as she tried process the words. "E-excuse me? What? Belén, I'm not an idiot-"

"No, of course you're not! You're far from it!" Belén bitterly exclaimed. "You've gone in search so much that I have _have_ to tell you now."

"Tell me what?" Veronica looked around the place, frowning with utter dislike. "Why do you come here so often? This place belonged to the man that destroyed our family."

"Because we've turned it into something _good_ ," Belén said softly, her eyes looking past her mother to the display case that was currently covered by the sliding wall Cisco installed to keep hers and Barry's suits out of the public's views. She walked over to the desk and with one last look at her friends (who encouraged her to go on), she pressed the button that slid the wall up. " _I_ have helped turn it into something good."

Veronica followed Belén's gesture and turned to find a familiar green suit sitting on a mannequin. Veronica's mouth opened with a slight gasp.

"I'm her, Mom," Belén said before Veronica made her own conclusions. "I'm the Azalea."

So many things started making sense to Veronica within the next minute. Her daughter's strange behavior, for once, every time this vigilante was mentioned. It also helped to remind her that this precise vigilante had already made appearances in Star City, along with the Arrow.

"It was... _you_ ," Veronica turned back to meet her daughter's nervous face. "You've been this vigilante all this time and I'm just _now_ hearing about it?"

"It's not something easy I can talk to you about," Belén said weakly, seeing anger starting up in Veronica's eyes.

"Oh, my bad, so it's my fault now," Veronica bitterly laughed.

"Mom, I don't want to keep fighting with you, okay? You know now. And you should also know that this man-" Belén once more gestured to Harry, "-is _not_ the man you think he is. He's from another world, alright?"

"Another world…" Veronica laughed there, clearly disbelieving it.

"It exists, okay? This is...a doppelganger. And he isn't here harming us. The Harrison Wells you know about, he's dead. Like...actually, he was erased from existence so it's even better."

"You need to stop," Veronica pointed at Belén. "You need to stop talking. I-I need to…" her head whipped in the direction of the Azalea suit, and her eyes flickered to the empty mannequin beside it. "Who...who's that one for?" she pointed.

Belén thought that if she told Veronica about Barry, then it would really drive things home for her mom. "I…"

"Oh, now this is rich," Veronica, it seemed, already made her conclusions. "Oh my God-" she rubbed her face, "-of course you work with the Flash."

"Mom-"

"NO!" Veronica waved her hands, indicating she was done. "Two years all this has been happening and you decide to tell me this now! Not to mention that all of it is just...crazy."

"Crazy?" it was Belén's turn to laugh. "Mom, we're helping people-"

"You are putting yourself in danger!" Veronica glanced at Nina, Iris and Laurel. "And you all knew. Of course you did. But none of you had the common sense to make her see reality!"

"The Azalea has helped people, Ms. Green," Iris spoke up for Belén. "She and the Flash have saved people and places."

"But at what cost?" Veronica's eyes teared up. "I lost my ex-husband, my son, my son-in-law, and my daughter."

"But Belén is right there," Nina snapped. Unlike Iris and Laurel, she had more of an attitude to match Veronica's. "She is the one who had to fight against Rayan and Maritza to do what's right. You should be damn proud of her and not shouting at her like she's five years old!"

Veronica turned to Belén, her tears on the verge of spilling. "You are putting yourself in danger, Belén. With that...that monster of Zoom out there...and that-that Datura. You want to keep going?"

"Zoom is not after me, Mom," Belén said quietly. "He and the Flash have their own battle going on."

"But the crossfires, Belén. _Those_ are the real dangers. And that Datura, she's already hurt you, hasn't she?" Veronica started to remember those strange bruises on her daughter's body. The _stitches_ on her neck. "If I lose you too…I will _break_. I will." She decided that enough was enough for that night and so she stormed out of the room.

Belén dug her hands through her hair and took in a deep breath. Her own tears were threatening to fall.

"Hey," Laurel walked up to her, pulling her hands from her hair. "You did good. It's better she found out now than by someone else."

"She's so _mad_ ," Belén's voice broke. "I have never seen her like that. And we've had some arguments."

"She reacted like anyone in her place would have," Laurel glanced back at the others for some backup.

"My dad was really mad when he discovered Barry was going out in the beginning," Iris thought to help by reminding of that parallel.

"Laurel put her hands on Belén's shoulders. "Your mother has lost most of her family, so it's logical she's scared to death about this. Give her some space to think about it and cool down."

"Okay," Belén nodded. There was nothing else to do, really, but wait. She wasn't expecting her mother to understand it all in one go, and much less when Belén knew she hadn't said all of the story.

A while later, Caitlin's call had gone through and Jay had dignified to show up.

"How bad is it?" although he asked he made his own conclusions based on just looking at Harry.

"There's a bullet in his pulmonary artery," Nina informed. "Caitlin said you could help."

"Can you close the wound if I get it?" Jay countered with, a silent agreement made amongst them.

"Yes."

"How are you going to do that?" Laurel asked, getting an odd look in return. She smiled and introduced herself. "Laurel Lance. Black Canary-" she gestured to herself then went ahead and gestured to him, "-Flash of another world. I know it all."

Jay slowly looked to Caitlin, the only face he needed to see. Caitlin handed him the silver gun holding the serum.

"What is that?" Iris laid eyes on the silver gun with distaste.

"It's a serum called Velocity-6. It could give Jay temporary speed," Caitlin said. "He can phase through Doctor Wells' chest and remove the bullet."

"Yeah, but I told you, I have no idea what's gonna happen if I use that," Jay reminded.

"If Caitlin did it then you should be okay," Belén said, showing her full trust for her friend

Jay injected his palm with the serum and waited for the effects. He growled in pain but the women all saw the familiar orangey lightening fill his eyes. His right hand began to vibrate, and not wasting time, he dug it into Harry's chest and managed to pull the bullet out.

Nina quickly began to see the effects of the intervention and smiled. "BP and oxygenation is rising. Blood flow is returning to his lungs."

Caitlin moved over and hugged Jay. "Thank you."

~ 0 ~

After a new day to sleep on things, as well as to monitor Harry's situation, Belén found herself alone in her apartment...thinking. She was waiting, actually, for Laurel to stop by, but in the meanwhile she was planning on what to do with her mother. All that day, Belén had tried talking to Veronica but was sent away or her calls were ignored. She was beginning to understand how it felt to be paid with the same coin. She'd done the same thing to her mother and was now paying one.

Hearing the knock on the door, Belén went to go answer, mentally preparing herself for a nice night with Laurel. She opened the door and was mighty surprised to see Barry who was not meant to be back so early.

"Hi," she greeted with a slow smile working across her face. "What are you doing here?"

"Change of plans," Barry shrugged and raised his hands. "Bad guy's here."

"Oh... _oh_ ," Belén soon understood the implications.

"But don't worry, Oliver and the rest of the team coming too. We'll get him," Barry walked right in. "Did I miss anything here?"

"Uh...well…" Belén slowly closed the door, wondering how to put all her words together. "Laurel is here already. Um, Caitlin and Harry worked out this serum thing, oh and my Mom shot Harry which led me to tell her that I am the Azalea."

" _What_!?" Barry whirled around, his eyes widened to the impossible.

"Harry's fine, but my Mom refuses to talk to me so I'm just here on my own…"

Barry could see the last thing she wanted was to be alone. "Why didn't you go stay with Iris, hm? Caitlin? Or Nina?"

Belén gave a shrug of her shoulders as she walked past him. "I don't know. I live alone, I should get used to that."

"Yeah, but...why would you want to be alone?" Barry asked, a playful hint in his tone. "I've done that...and it's not a lot of fun."

Belén chuckled and turned away from him. "Well, Barry, sometimes a girl just likes to be alone. I can wake up and decide not to put pants on and who would tell me anything?" Barry got to thinking behind her. "I'm fine, really. I just needed some time to think about - are you staring at my legs?" she had turned around and found Barry's gaze directed at her legs.

Being caught, his face turned red. "I-I wasn't, n-no…"

"Were you thinking about it?" Belén laughed and sat down on the couch armrest. "Me with no pants on?"

"No!" Barry said a bit too quick, only making Belén laugh even more. "Oh, you are so gonna pay for that."

"You're an idiot," Belén accused as he marched up to her. "But I actually missed that so I'm going to let it go." Barry leaned down to kiss her but she pulled away. "On the one condition that you stop looking at my legs."

"That I can't help," Barry out his hands on either side of her. "See, you're too beautiful, and that includes your legs."

"Oh really?"

"Mhm," Barry closed to the gap between them with a kiss. There was a muffled laughter between them as Barry carefully pushed her back onto the couch.

"You came back with some necessities…" Belén laughed while while Barry crawled over her.

"I've discovered I can't be away from you very long," Barry innocently admitted. "Plus, you've got some nice legs."

"Oh my God, shut up!" Belén threw her head back in another round of laughter. She lightly gasped when she felt one of his hands trailing down from her thigh and down. "I love you and your idiocy."

"I love you and your sweet words," Barry countered with. He leaned down and barely got to kiss her again when someone new knocked on the door.

"Belén? Open up. I've got take out and it's pretty heavy!" Laurel's voice broke them apart.

"What?" Barry frowned.

"Oh, um, I forgot to mention Laurel was staying over," Belén pushed Barry off her in order to sit up.

"Well, it looks like I'm the odd man out," Barry pretended to huff.

"Aw, you can stay if you'd like," Belén offered and got up.

"No, I'd rather have you all to myself," Barry got up and took her hands. "We _really_ need a date, you know. Or just some plain time to ourselves."

"Agreed, but we can probably sort that after we take down the bad guys?"

Barry nodded. He stole a kiss from her and sped out of the room, of course not before speeding Laurel's bags to the coffee table. Laurel's hair fell over her face from the speed and laughed.

"Now I see what Diggle means!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And Belén dropped the bomb on her mom! Been waiting to write that part for a while now guys! We'll see more of Veronica's reactions in the later chapters!

So, I know this chapter only had a little of my new OC but the next chapter will have loads of her! This chapter was mainly to introduce Jinx and then focus on Belén's arc here. Next chapter will have all of the Flarrow crossover ;). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


	10. A Jinx's Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Flash and Arrow join together, along with time traveler Graciela Haynez to defeat Vandal Savage. It's only in the end that Graciela reveals the true nature of her status.

**A/N: Once again, this chapter concludes the introduction of my new Arrowverse OC. While she takes the name of "Jinx" , a canon villain in the DC world, she will be portrayed as a** descendant **and not the actual original villain.**

* * *

Visiting Star City when it was due to some strange, mystical man wasn't exactly on Barry's top five things to do. Yet there he was because an innocent woman was being hunted down by the mystical man. At least he could be surrounded by friends who would be able to help him in case something went wrong.

While everyone came up with a decent plan for Kendra Saunders, they gathered in Oliver's apartment for some drinks that night. Barry had listened to how much had changed for both Felicity and Oliver, and honestly couldn't hide his shock.

"So, you're the CEO of Palmer Technologies," Barry pointed to Felicity Smoak as he wrapped his mind around the idea of Felicity being big boss as a company, "And you're now living with Oliver Queen."

"There you go, you got it!" Felicity sarcastically hit him on the arm.

"It's insane how much life can change in six months, huh?"

"Which you would know better than anyone, considering that there's another Flash, another Dr. Wells, from another... earth. I mean…" but as much as Felicity tried wrapping her mind around a new Earth it just wouldn't. "I wonder what Oliver's doppelganger would look like. Bald, pot-bellied…" Barry laughed at the idea and sneaked a glance at Oliver in the kitchen. "Haven't asked, how are you and Belén doing?"

"Uuh...I mean, we're good," Barry meant to be honest in that in terms of being a couple they were indeed good, but there were some rough patches that didn't exactly pertain to their relationship.

"I sense there's a 'but' somewhere there…" Felicity narrowed her eyes on him, ready to scrutinize him on the spot.

"It's not about us, it's just we're dealing with...you know...other world and stuff."

"Oh…" that seemed to calm Felicity more or less.

"I love her and I hate seeing her so stressed... I want to help her but I don't know how." And Barry despised that fact. He had the answers to his speed because there were people to train him, even if some of those were evil, but the fact laid in that he garnered the skills because of guidance. Belén didn't have that. To find the answers, she was basically on her own.

~0~

While everyone mingled, Cisco took opportunity to have a word with Barry on the side. He hadn't been sure if he wanted to tell Barry what he saw but Cisco was sure it would inevitably help Kendra in the end.

"You 'vibed' Kendra?" Barry was surprised to hear.

"Unintentionally," Cisco left that clear before he went on. "But remember the man with wings? It wasn't a man. It was Kendra. She was, like, a bird. You think that she's a meta-human?"

Barry could not be sure, and neither was Cisco. "Mm... Wait. Why didn't you say anything about this sooner?"

Cisco gave a light shrug. "Well, I didn't think it was related, but I guess now it has to be. Look, I don't want her to know about my powers. I have this great thing going with her. She laughs at my jokes, and she loves movies, and... I just... I've never felt like this before, and I don't want to sabotage it."

"I get the feeling," Barry could honestly relate.

"Look!" Kendra had jumped from her seat to point at the glass wall overlooking the city.

Vandal Savage was swinging forwards and broke through the window. Everyone backed away as the man got up. He certainly seemed at home when he saw Kendra. " I will always find you, Chay-Ara."

Barry sped Oliver and Thea their arrows. Oliver quickly took aim on Savage. "Don't move."

"Then how will I kill you all?" Savage pulled out several pocket knives in a second and threw them strategically at them all. Barry sped down and managed to get the knives before they were able to hurt anyone.

Oliver then took his moment to shoot arrows towards Savage. The intended victim ducked and dodged like there was no tomorrow. At the same time, a familiar purple and black leathered figure swooped in through the hole Savage left on the wall. With one leg stretched on the floor and a hand keeping her from falling, Jinx shot her purple beams at the lights above and caused massive sparks to fly down on the group.

"You again?" Savage faced her, fairly curious with the persistent women.

"Me, again," Jinx smirked as she straightened up. "We weren't finished."

"We weren't," Savage didn't hesitate to start throwing more blades her way.

She backtracked while dodging them all with those bright purple beams that seemed to either change the blades' direction or crush them altogether. Oliver and Thea joined again, although neither was sure who that woman was, and shot more arrows towards Savage. Jinx dropped her hands and ran forwards to engage Savage in hand-to-hand combat. She proved to be skilled as she jumped and blocked Savage's punches while throwing one of her own. Finally, Savage became agitated it was all taking too long and surprised Jinx with a different, golden chopped knife. It would have came straight at her heart if Barry hadn't sped in and grabbed it three inches away from her. In her shock, Savage took his opportunity and escaped by jumping off Oliver's balcony.

"No!" Jinx cried as the man disappeared. She tried to chase after him but Barry grabbed her arm.

"He's not going to make it!" he said, but she yanked her arm from his grip.

"He's immortal you idiot!" she shouted angrily and hurried to the balcony. She looked down but, no surprise, Savage was gone again. "Dammit!" she grasped her hair and turned around to the shock-stricken group staring at her.

"Hey…" Barry meant to approach her calmly but she was too angry to stop and realize.

"I said to stay out of it! I only have a couple chances before they find me and you keep ruining it!" she gritted her teeth and scoured the group until she spotted Kendra. "I'm not messing up again."

Kendra felt this was a warning that encumbered her too and suddenly stepped back. Jinx lowered her arms and straightened up.

"You're the one he calls Chay-Arah...so you're it." Jinx smiled and thrust an arm in the group's way, or so it seemed. Her beams had hit the pillars that were part of the supporting pieces of the ceiling.

"Ah...what's happening…?" Felicity couldn't, and wouldn't, take her eyes off the ceiling.

Jinx was running towards Kendra but Oliver and Thea took aim up again on her. It made it a struggle for Jinx to keep going as she had to constantly battle the arrows threatening her. Barry decided to end it by simply taking Jinx over her victim and pinned her against the back wall.

"Kendra isn't going anywhere with you," he warned her.

"You don't get it, _she's_ the key," Jinx kicked him in the stomach. "It's not like I'm going to hurt her. I just...need you…" she laid dark eyes on Kendra.

"Yo, not happening," Cisco barred the way to his girlfriend.

Jinx laughed mockingly at his defense. She raised a hand, making Felicity panic. She'd figured out Jinx's powers by now.

"Not the ceiling!" cried the blonde.

Jinx rolled her eyes but redirected her hands to the kitchen. Energy beams made fire erupt from the oven and another shot at the walls made pipes burst. Even if they wanted to stop Jinx, the natural disasters prevented them from saving Kendra. Jinx had taken her all too easy in their distress.

~0~

"All right, Lance is gonna call if he gets any information on... whoever they were…" Oliver said after hanging up the phone.

"And the ceiling…?" Felicity hadn't taken her eyes off the ceiling since the fight. It kept grumbling and groaning like it would collapse at any moment.

"Homegirl Jinx lives up to her name," Cisco bitterly kicked the couch from behind.

"New metahuman?" asked Diggle.

"Man, we don't know what she is except she's crazy with bad luck powers!"

Barry put a hand on Cisco's shoulder, understanding he was sick worried over Kendra. "Look, you can call me crazy too but I don't think Jinx is going to hurt Kendra." Cisco turned on Barry with an incredulous expression on his face. "I just meant-" Barry took a precautionary step backwards, "-she clearly wants to get this man as much as we want to and she's made the connection that wherever Kendra is that man will follow."

"You saying she's gonna use Kendra as bait?" Thea raised her eyebrows.

Barry shrugged, knowing that the possibility of Kendra being bait didn't exactly make Cisco feel much better. "It's just…"

"It's exactly what we would do," Oliver spoke up.

Cisco's eyes nearly popped from his head. "What!?"

"And if she's thinking like that then maybe we can reason with her," Oliver continued like Cisco hadn't spoken. "We could get her to help us instead."

"And maybe have her fix our ceiling…" Felicity mumbled.

"Felicity, you think we can find Kendra by pinging her phone?" Barry asked.

"Oh, watch me!"

~0~

Kendra found it was useless trying to pull on the ropes binding her wrists and ankles together. She leaned against the wall where Jinx had put her and frowned at the woman who had kidnapped her. Jinx was sitting on a table, literally, tinkering with the metal wristwatch (as it appeared to Kendra) on her.

' _There's a 98% probability Vandal Savage will be around the area, Miss Haynez_ ,' a computerized voice informed her.

"What is that?" Kendra couldn't help be curious of the device.

Jinx looked up with a smirk. "It's a miniature A.l device I knicked off a friend."

"You _stole_ it?"

"Oh, I'm gonna give it back when I'm finished in this time," Jinx put both her hands on her lap. "My friend will probably shout at how irresponsible it was to go through time and blah, blah, blah-" she rolled her eyes, "He always likes to be dramatic."

Kendra's eyebrows knitted together. "Wait, time? You're a…"

"Man, I read all about these metahumans before coming - the Flash, the Azalea, the Arrow, Black Canary? I thought they were super smart enough to figure that out."

"Give them credit," Kendra frowned. "It's not everyday we come across time travelers and immortals."

Jinx laughed. "True."

Kendra studied the woman for real now and came, fairly quick, to the conclusion that whatever Jinx wanted it really had nothing to do with _her_. She wanted Savage. She was merely the bait.

Jinx hopped off the table and walked towards Kendra. "I need you to wake up or something."

"Wake up…?"

"C'mon, it would be a lot easier to fight Savage knowing you could defend yourself. I don't want liabilities."

"I have no idea what you mean," Kendra pulled her legs closer to her as Jinx neared her.

"I know you have powers, Kendra. And I know there's another of your kind-"

"My _kind_?" repeated Kendra, now truly confused.

"The male. I don't know where he us but that's okay since Savage seems to want only you right now. But c'mon, sprout the wings, pull the sword out or something."

"Okay I have _no_ idea what you're talking about!"

Jinx looked mighty frustrated and disappointed with Kendra. "Tell me you're kidding?" Kendra's blank face said it all. "Woman!"

"I'm just a barista!"

"No, you're not! You're like a...I don't know, reincarnation? I honestly didn't read too much on that background. All I know is that you and some other guy die and reincarnate over and over because of Savage. And since you don't even have your powers activated it's gonna be a hell of a lot easier for Savage to get you!" Jinx growled and turned away from Kendra. "I don't have that much time here before they find me…" she rubbed her face and hoped to God something would pop in her mind to help her out.

Meanwhile, Kendra tried to internalize what she'd been told about herself apparently? None of it made sense but it would explain why Savage was so hellbent on killing her. There was a hell to pay that she didn't even know about.

About thirty minutes later, Jinx returned to Kendra and pulled the woman up without saying a word. She pushed Kendra towards the exit of the abandoned room.

"Wh-where are we going?" Kendra tried digging her heels into the ground to stop herself from going.

"Relax, I'm taking you out to the street. I figure maybe your powers will show up if you're under stressor, also known as _me_."

"Wait, what!?"

Jinx pushed Kendra out and forced the woman to go to the dark street. She left Kendra tried by the wrists and stepped back. "Ready?"

"NO!"

"Yes!" Jinx's excited voice went over Kendra. She swung an arm forwards and her energy beams hit the nearest street pole by Kendra.

"No! Stop!" Kendra cried and jumped backwards just as the pole groaned and fell over. From the force, Kendra fell back.

Jinx clapped a hand to her forehead. "This is seriously not how I imagined things going."

Kendra shot the woman a glare from the ground.

"We're going to need to 'up' the stakes," Jinx theorized, lowering her hand to her chin. "I suppose it's like a self preservation. The bigger the stressor…the more chances of getting those powers…"

"Please…" Kendra scuttled backwards, unable to get up on her own, "...whatever you want from me...it's not going to work…"

"Wouldn't say that," Jinx's eyes raised up to the electricity cables. "Perfect."

Kendra followed the woman's gaze up and felt her blood run cold. "Oh n-n-n-n-no…"

"Sprout those wings, woman!" Jinx raised her hands above her head and was about to shoot at the cables when an arrow struck her by the shoulder and pushed her to the ground. "OW!"

Before she knew it, Barry had sped in front of her and looked down. "If you don't want another arrow, I suggest you listen."

Behind him dropped Oliver who took a threatening aim at Jinx. Jinx's dark eyes flickered between the two and could see past them where Diggle and Thea were helping Kendra up. Suddenly, Barry lowered a hand for her to take, confusing her of course.

"First you shoot me-" Jinx pulled out the arrow embedded on her shoulder like it was nothing and threw it to the side, "-and then you offer help?"

"You haven't been all that straight forwards either," Barry retorted and motioned her again to just take his hand.

Jinx grasped his hand and let him pull her up. She cast a suspicious glance on Oliver who still didn't lower his arrows. "What now? You'll imprison me?" she challenged but scoffed in the end. "Because if I'm being honest, you're gonna have to get in line."

"We just want to talk," Barry reassured but Jinx cleared her throat and nodded her head at Oliver. "Dude…" Barry tried pushing away the arrow Oliver had until eventually Oliver lowered it completely. "Thank you. Look," Barry tried again with Jinx, "we don't understand anything-"

"-clearly," Jinx crossed her arms.

"-but it looks like you do and we have a common enemy so...why don't we help each other out?"

"She tried crushing me with a street pole!" Kendra shouted from across. Now that she was free she frantically motioned to the pole on the ground.

"Hey that was only to get you to sprout those wings!" Jinx snapped. "And it didn't even work!"

"I don't _have_ any wings!" Kendra waved her hands in the air. "I don't have any powers! I keep telling you that!"

"I _know_ you do! You just haven't activated them!"

Kendra stalked towards them but a male figure - flying - in a golden suit with wings suddenly swooped down and took her off the ground. "HELP!" Kendra screamed but no one could possibly do so.

And then, just like that, Oliver took aim against Jinx again. "You have some explaining to do!"

"Oh calm down," Jinx wasn't even looking at him anymore. She raised her wrist that had the watch-like device strapped to it and pulled up several holographic screens.

"What the hell was that?" Thea came running over with Diggle.

"Not a 'what' but a 'he'," a big smile, like the Chestshire cat, was spreading across Jinx's face. "It's the other one! I've hit the jackpot!"

"Explain!" demanded Oliver.

"Sure, just lower the arrows," Jinx ordered. Begrudgingly, Oliver did so but his hand was still wrapped around the bow pretty tightly. "Look, don't worry, she's not in danger, alright? That's probably her reincarnated soulmate."

Everyone winced because Cisco had given a mighty big 'oh hell no' in their ears through the comms.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked Jinx but the woman kept working on the device. "And what the hell is that?"

"I read about them, alright? There's two of them and Savage will always kill them both! It's obvious the guy has figured his powers out," Jinx sighed. "I should have gone after him instead."

"Whoever he is we need to find him," Diggle said.

"He's not gonna get far once he sees Kendra hasn't activated her powers," Jinx turned her wristwatch off. "I need to go after them before Savage finds them."

"You are not going anywhere," Thea warned her. "We don't even know your name. We're not letting you go anywhere near Kendra."

"If anything, she should be back in the base explaining things," Barry offered, much to Jinx's dismay. "We'll find Kendra and that guy...and we'll bring them back. But _you_ -" he pointed at Jinx, "-need to be committed to cooperate with us. And you're gonna start by telling us everything you know and who you are."

"Fine, but on the other side, I'd like you to guarantee me that Savage dies. It's crucial for me, do you understand?" and in truth there was something in Jinx's eyes indicating this was more than a simple hunt for her. There was something important she was fighting for.

Barry extended a hand forwards. "Deal."

Jinx nodded and shook hands on it.

~ 0 ~

And although the strange man gave quite the chase, Barry and Oliver had managed to bring him down with some tranquilizing arrows. That of course didn't sit well with Jinx when they expressed the idea of chaining the man up.

"He is a key to all this!"

"He kidnapped me!"

"He was just trying to protect you!"

"You know, I don't like you very much," Kendra crossed her arms and glared straight at Jinx.

"You know, liking you has nothing to do with this. You're just a way to get to my goal," Jinx responded and glanced back at the unconscious, chained up, man across them.

"Yo, we trusted you enough to bring you in here," Cisco gestured to the base. "So mind doing your thing about explaining all this? Start with your real name, please?"

Jinx drew in a deep breath as she resigned herself to disclosure. She hadn't planned on revealing anything about herself while in the past, but to be honest she hadn't expected on killing Savage to be such a difficult task in the past.

"Yo? _Name_?" called Cisco once he felt like they were losing her again.

"Fine," the woman spat. She folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "My name is Graciela Haynez, but I'm also known as Jinx."

"And how are you connected to all this?" Barry then asked since none of them could figure it out yet.

"I'm not connected," Graciela clarified first. "But my life, as well as my entire world, has been affected by that man. Vandal Savage, as you have guessed, is a murderer. And where I'm from, he's a _dictator_."

"And where are you from again?" Felicity asked from the platform. She was leaning against her desk, refusing to be too close to Jinx for the moment. Jinx looked to the side, apparently reluctant to answer.

"Hey, you promised you would tell us everything," Barry reminded her.

Graciela threw her head back and rubbed her face. "Fine! I'm from the future."

"Okay, can we lock her up now?" Thea sarcastically asked.

"I'm not kidding! I'm from the year 2166 and I came back here to stop Savage before he takes over my city and the whole frikin world!"

But everyone continued to stare at her like she was spilling nothing but lies.

"Fine, you want proof?" Graciela raised her wristwatch and activated it. There were various images displaying a destroyed city and the last one showed Vandal Savage at the head of an army. When Graciela shut the device off, she was subjected to various horrific stares. "There's your proof. That's home sweet home for me."

"Wait," Cisco shook his head as if that would erase everything image he just saw, "You mean to tell me you time traveled back in time to stop Savage from ever becoming dictator? Isn't that like...against rules or something?"

"Oh yeah, but the thing is I don't care," Graciela said like nothing. "I've been fighting a rebellion for as long as I can remember and even though I know people can fight him, that organization has refused to do it. So, _I'm_ doing it. So can we get this moving?"

Barry looked at Oliver to see what he was thinking. As usual, there was nothing describable in Oliver's face except for pensiveness.

"Might I suggest something?" Barry finally asked.

~ 0 ~

It took a lot of explaining, but after things were clear - or at least decently clear - Star City's finest returned to Central City with Barry, along with Graciela, in hopes of coming up with a good, airtight, plan against Savage.

First thing in order was to relocate somewhere remote.

"A bunch of superheroes in a farmhouse?" Thea gave a weird look at the grassy field they arrived at. "I feel like I've seen that in a movie before."

"We need a secure location," Oliver moved around their black van without so much of a glance to their surroundings. All he knew was that there was a decent home and it was far away from the city.

"And what's wrong with STAR Labs?" asked Belén just as she got off the STAR Labs van.

"Well, I mean, absolutely nothing if you forget about the revolving door you guys installed so the bad guys can come and go as they please."

Belén exchanged a look with Caitlin beside her, both offended on behalf of their beloved STAR Labs.

"And remind us again what happened to your old lair?" Caitlin was the one to respond first, but of course Belén had something else to add.

"Or the one before that?"

Oliver glared at both women.

"Well, lair number one was compromised by the police, and…" Felicity trailed off when Olivier's glance switched to her. She cleared her throat and looked down. "I will stop helping."

Oliver decided to stop paying them attention before he would lose it. Instead, he led the group towards the safe house. "Savage only let Barry and I live because he felt Kendra start to emerge as Hawkgirl and went after her. He can sense her and Carter's presence. We don't need to make it easier on him by staying in the city limits."

"Bet you wish you were staying at your mother's place now," Belén mumbled to Laurel since the latter had been staying in Central City anyways.

"Ha!" Laurel practically snorted.

It had been half an hour since the group settled into the house, and only then did Cisco, Barry and Graciela appear.

"Barry, you're late!" Oliver's sharpness had no effect on Barry anymore. He'd come to get used to Oliver's way of being a long time ago. Instead, he learned how to make comebacks.

"Sorry. It turns out, it's not easy finding the ass end of nowhere!"

"Yeah, for real," Cisco pulled out his cellphone and immediately checked for his internet status. "The roaming charges alone are going to bankrupt me."

"...are those my clothes?" Belén raised an eyebrow the moment she spotted Graciela wearing her pink cardigan.

Graciela, in turn, uncomfortably shifted on her feet while flailing her arms. "Yeah, and I hate pink."

"Be a little grateful, won't yah?" snapped Cisco. "We borrowed-"

"- _my_ clothes?" Belén's voice started getting that same sharpness Oliver owned so well, and that was something Barry still had no comeback to.

"Uuuh…" Barry drew it out while he pulled Belén to the side in the meantime the others started gathering with Cisco's cart of inventions.

"Barry, she's wearing my clothes," Belén said quietly though in growing irritation. Her eyes flickered to Graciela who was indeed wearing everything that belonged to her. "I'm all for sharing but I'm not comfortable doing it with someone I don't know and who also attacked my friends multiple times."

"I know that, and I understand, but it's okay now. Graciela's okay. She's on our side," Barry tried to explain quick before she got actually angry. "She's from the future and she didn't have anything and you always have spares at STAR Labs, sooo…."

"Fine," Belén crossed her arms. "But can I at least meet her now? I mean, the only reason I know her name is Graciela is because you just said it right now. Last time we saw each other, she attacked us."

"It's been a busy day," Barry said in his defense.

"Mhm," Belén's hum was almost like a red flag.

It was a good thing Barry wasn't naive to believe it was all due to borrowed clothes. As soon as he'd returned to Central City yesterday, Belén filled him in on what had happened in his absence. She'd been forced to tell her mother that she the Azalea, they had Harry stabilizing back at STAR Labs (under the care of Nina), and of course no one could forget she was going crazy trying to figure more things out about Datura, and the lack of success was getting to her. Her training, while good, still felt like it was mediocre against Datura's and Poison Ivy's.

Borrowed clothes were merely the tip of the iceberg for Belén.

"We need to get rid of Savage's magic stick thing," Oliver couldn't believe he was actually saying those words.

"Yeah, Staff of Horus," Carter corrected but it really didn't matter.

"Well, it's protected by some kind of energy field," Graciela said bitterly. "It's impossible to get to. Believe me, I've tried."

"What about some mittens, then?" Felicity joked for a second until she got the actual idea. "Ooooooh, maybe some insulated gauntlets…"

Caitlin seemed to catch the idea as well since she chimed in, "Oh, yeah, yeah, the magnetic shielding could disrupt the-"

"-the staff's magnetic polarity!" Cisco even had a go and started leading the two women into the hallway.

"Well, while the geek squad works-"

"-heard that, honey!" Felicity called to Oliver, actually making him wince.

"While they work to get the staff away from Savage, we need to know everything there is to know about him." Oliver's eyes landed on Graciela and Kendra, but the latter seemed pretty uncomfortable to say anything.

"What's to know about him is that he's evil, manipulative, and powerful," Graciela listed off her fingers before shrugging. "That's about it, really."

"He's been around for 4,000 years - he should have a trail or something."

"You're from the future, right?" Belén moved closer to the group. "You obviously know more about him than we will ever know right now."

"I mean…" Graciela seemed like there was a lot she wanted to say but failed to come up with a way to say it. She dragged a hand through her short curls and sighed. "You have to understand that where I come from, he's already won. He's the dictator. He's all powerful and there's no way of stopping him because those two-" she jerked a thumb at Kendra and Carter, "-are dead. I don't know everything about Savage. I just know that in the 21st century he comes across metahumans that almost stop him."

"So what was your plan, then? When you first thought of coming here?" Barry wondered since her first appearance seemed a hellbent on killing.

"To be honest, I don't know," Graciela crossed her arms, looking rather guilty about her confession. "I'm impulsive and I…" she once again paused to gather her words, "...I read in the history files that when Savage goes up against the Arrow, the Flash, the Azalea, Black Canary...his weapons are his downfall. I thought maybe if I showed up and take the weapons I might have a chance of fixing my future."

"Okay, how about I check with A.R.G.U.S., see if they have anything on him?" Diggle offered since it was clear they had nothing.

"That sounds great," Laurel nodded her head. "And Thea and I can check police reports and stuff like that."

"It's not gonna matter," Graciela called to the trio who were moving to start on their tasks.

"We're going to do our best," Thea offered one sour smile before following Laurel.

"And Kendra," Oliver turned his attention to Kendra, the sudden gaze making the woman stiffen. "We need to find a way to utilize your new ability."

She blinked until it hit her of what he meant. "My ability?" Of course he meant her 'ability', because she now had abilities. Because she wasn't normal. She was...she was some...

"It might give us an advantage," Oliver's voice pulled Kendra out from her thoughts.

Barry cleared his throat as he moved on around the group. "Yeah, whatever you do, don't let him train you." At that, Oliver gave him a look, but Barry was full on straightforward with his words. "I'm sorry, but when it rains, I can still feel where you shot me with those arrows."

"He's not that bad," Belén spoke up on Oliver's behalf, though it earned her an offended glance from Barry. "What? You were being smug and you got shot with arrows. What did you say to me before running?" She pretended to think about it before mocking him, ' _And give Bells a show_ '."

Barry nearly glared at her for bringing that one up. Okay, so he might have been a little over the top then but he didn't deserve to be shot with arrows.

"It's okay," Carter stepped forwards, hands held up, "I'll handle her training, then."

Kendra kept her mouth shut because the moment someone asked her directly whether or not she wanted to 'train' she'd say an automatic 'no'. Instead, she watched Carter leave the house for something in the van, no doubt that big chest box he'd carried with them.

~ 0 ~

"Where are you going?" Belén's question stopped Barry just as he was about to take off from the front porch.

"Well…" Barry prepared himself for what he knew would be a difficult explanation, "...I got a call...from, um...one of Oliver's…" he paused for a significant long time, making Belén rather impatient for she thought this would be him coming up with an excuse, "...frenemies."

"Which one?"

"Don't know...Merlyn?"

"You got a call from Merlyn?" Belén's tone of voice indicated she knew exactly who that was. Barry then remembered she and Laurel were completely close. "What the hell does he want!?"

"To talk to me and Oliver, I guess." Barry admitted to himself he didn't like the idea of meeting up with that type of man, but since Oliver was on his way too he had no choice but to go as well.

"Just you two? That's a bit rude," Belén folded her arms and deeply frowned. "And I'm sugarcoating it. You do realize this whole Savage thing involves a lot of people. Whatever he's going to say to you and Oliver, make sure you repeat it to us later, got it?"

"Got it," Barry dutifully said, even saluting for show. Once he saw a small smile trying to creep across her face, he knew she wasn't that upset.

"Just be careful, alright? I'll hold down the fort here," she said and looked to the side. She could see Kendra and Carter on the field, presumably training. "Though to be honest I think we might end up killing each other before Savage gets to us. Reincarnation, immortality and time travelers?"

Barry snorted with a laugh. "Yeah. This one's out of our terrain. But listen, Graciela? She knows a lot more than she's giving on. Maybe you can get her to talk more."

"Me?" Belén pointed at herself, relatively confused since she'd barely crossed a word with the time traveler. "But I haven't even met her. It's not like she's a big talker."

"Try to look at it from her perspective," Barry attempted to go through a different tactic. He stepped closer to Belén and lowered his voice in case anyone was nearby. "To her, this is a lost battle. It's like she said, she's already lost so this is technically one of her last options. And who knows what she left behind in the future. She could be fighting for something we don't know about. Someone maybe."

"I hate when you make sense," Belén sighed and ignored his smirk.

"Just try it. If there's anyone with a sweet voice it's you!" he swooped down and kissed her cheek.

"I'm gonna do it, you don't need to keep kissing up," she playfully rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

"K, gotta go!" Barry waved before rushing off.

Belén drew in a deep breath and prepared herself to go find that...unique...time traveler.

She moved back into the house in search of Graciela, but only found the three scientists working hard on those gauntlets-to-be, and then saw the other trio looking for traces of Savage. It led her to go back to the fields where Carter and Kendra were still going hard on that training, which looked rather frustrating for Kendra judging by those growls. Eventually, Belén spotted Graciela sitting on a rock just outside the shed. The closer Belén got, the better she could see Graciela was talking to something around her wrist.

"Show me London again," Graciela was instructing and suddenly a baby blue hologram flickered to life above the watch on her wrist.

It was not a pretty sight.

"Time hasn't changed," Graciela said with full disappointment. However, as soon as she saw Belén coming towards her, she pushed that disappointment to the back of her mind and turned the hologram off. She awkwardly cleared her throat and crossed her arms, effectively covering the watch.

"Hi," Belén was in the same awkward boat. "Um...I'm Belén, just in case you didn't get it before." Graciela gave a slight nod, but nothing more. Belén cleared her throat and came a little closer. "Were you talking to someone? Did I interrupt a conversation?"

Graciela shook her head. "Nah. People I talk to are a little bit busy right now...fighting…or dead..."

Belén raised her eyebrows, unsure of what to say to that. It looked like Graciela understood and decided to be nice and further explain the situation.

"I'm part of a rebellious group against Savage in my time….and even if I wanted to talk with any of my partners...they don't have this," Graciela revealed the futuristic watch on her wrist and gave it a gentle tap on its silver surface. "It's not even mine, to be honest."

"What do you mean by that?" Belén eyed the watch with a little more focus than before and saw it had some writing on the surface, but she couldn't make it out.

"It's my friend's - well, don't know if he qualifies me as a friend anymore. Either way, once he realizes I stole the watch from him he'll end up hating me even more, if that's possible. Unlike me, he's...proper," Graciela rolled her eyes. "He's part of this elite Time group and, to be frank, it's stupid. They know exactly what's happening to our world and they're not doing anything about it. And since my friend is too tied up in their rules to break anything...I did it." And even as Graciela retold the story, she didn't sound one bit regretful. "I have two friends in that stupid organization so I just waited for my moment to steal one of their watches. I needed to stop Savage."

Belén could see the struggle in Graciela's eyes to truly accept the consequences of her action. Graciela didn't regret it, but it didn't mean she was ready for what came next. "So it was worth it, then?"

Graciela's shrug was so little it barely looked like one. "I mean, I'm checking the future and everything is still the same, so...maybe it wasn't. I don't know." She shook her head and took a moment to calm herself by staring hard at the ground. She couldn't afford to feel doubtful, and much less to be ridiculous and cry. It was the journey she decided she would make for the sake of the world, despite what was coming for her.

"Are you-" Belén was just about to reach for Graciela's shoulder when the latter raised her head.

"Anyways," Graciela sniffed and rose from the ground with a whole new expression she was trying to make casual, "Sorry about your cardigan." She once again folded her arms and grazed the soft pink fabric of the cardigan. "Barry just offered them and I…"

"It's fine," Belén raised a hand to stop the woman. "I'm not that type of girl, trust me. Besides, you look good in pink."

"I don't like pink," Graciela bluntly reiterated.

"Right…" Belén looked away for a moment, and just in time to see Kendra falling flat on her back after a failed attempt to punch Carter. She scrunched her face, feeling the ghost of that pain from her own training. "That had to hurt."

Graciela followed Belén's gaze to Kendra and sighed. She walked a few steps towards the scene and watched it go on again. "If she keeps that up, we'll never take Savage down."

"She just discovered she's not really who she thought she was," reminded Belén. "That can't be easy to manage."

"We all have baggage," Graciela said too matter-of-factly to be genuine. "And we have to get over it in order to succeed. In order to _live_ _._ Savage will use any weakness to kill. He's done it before."

"What do you know about him? For real?"

Graciela turned sideways to see Belén expectantly waiting for an answer. "That he's been here for a good while. He's helped build empires and he's watched them fall. All these centuries he's been calculating and he's struck whenever it was most convenient for him. He has an immense power that...only _they_ -" she pointed back to Kendra and Carter, "-can take down."

"But why?" Belén wanted to know so badly.

"Because they're locked in a never ending cycle of life and death. I know you guys aren't big believers on magic, but it _does_ exist. I would know," Graciela's eyes flickered a purple that made Belén take a step back. "I'm part of their world."

"You're definitely not a metahuman…"

"No. I'm something else, but…" Graciela shook her head, deciding it wasn't worth it. "It doesn't matter what I am. What matters is how we take Savage down. I don't exactly have all the time in the world. And to be honest, with every passing second I'm a little less faithful in those two over there."

"We just gotta give them some time," Belén's optimism wasn't met with much agreement.

"As much as it pains me to admit out loud, I'm going to need all of you," Graciela made a move to leave. Where she was going, exactly, she didn't know.

Belén turned after her, choosing to follow her. "Well I don't know how much help I'll be to be honest. I'm sort of struggling to hone in on my powers." That admission made Graciela abruptly stop. She turned sideways to give Belén a strange look.

" _What_? You don't have powers?"

"No - I…" Belén sighed, bringing a hand to her head, "I do have powers and I use them fairly well I should say."

"Then what's the problem?"

"That I'm weak. I've been dealing with a metahuman who's like me but not me. She's a siphoner and no matter how much I train, she still kicks my ass."

Graciela seemed to be confused judging by the scrunch of her face. "You're the Azalea. You're a botanical metahuman. Why don't you just go to the Green for help?"

Now it was Belén's turn to be confused. "The _what_?"

"The Green," Graciela shrugged. "That one place where botanical metahumans gather?"

Belén drew a blank on her words. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"This is why time traveling isn't allowed I guess," Graciela mumbled. "But screw it. The Green is famous for being the place where all botanical metahumans can meet and train, and converse."

Belén tilted her head while she thought about this place. "It's...it's kind of like the Speedforce with Barry. Like the place where your powers originate from. But how do you know about this place?"

"I read about it in the files," shrugged Graciela. "There's an article that, um..." she blinked then gave Belén a certain kind of look, "... _you_ wrote, actually. It talked all about the Green."

" _I_ wrote it?" Belén tried to wrap her mind around that one and considered it very unlikely due to the fact she didn't even know what that place was.

"Yeah, in the future."

"Well how do I get there?"

Graciela looked at Belén as if she were crazy. "I don't know. I'm not a botanical metahuman but you are so...figure it out." She have another shrug and turned to walk away like nothing, never seeing Belén's face.

~ 0 ~

It honestly was not that surprising that Merlyn had arranged a meeting with Savage to figure out what he wanted.

"What do you want?" Merlyn led the meet and hoped to God that Oliver and Barry would keep their idiotic mouths shut for once.

"What all living things want- not to die," Savage answered in well-mannered tone. For now, this was merely a conversation.

"I thought that wasn't a problem for you," Oliver said.

"Only if I take the lifeforce from Prince Khufu and Priestess Chay-Ara. The three of us are locked in a vicious circle played out over thousands of years. None of your concern."

"We've made it our concern," Oliver all but snapped and shot one of his arrows directly at Savage.

Savage, however, took the arrow to the chest like a scratch and pulled out the arrow like nothing. "Robin of Locksley. I taught him how to use a bow. He taught me how to not feel pain. I'm the enemy you can't defeat. The only way for you and yours to live through this is to render onto me what is mine. Turn over Prince Khufu and Princess Chay-Ara within 24 hours, or I will lay waste to this city, killing everyone that you hold dear. And after that, I will travel to your home-" he directed a finger to Oliver, "-and do the same thing there."

"All right, I'm just curious- did you rehearse that speech in a mirror this morning, or this all just off the cuff?" Barry was slightly afraid, but it wasn't something he would say out loud.

"Why would you risk the lives of your friends and family for two strangers? 206 times I have killed them. What hubris possesses you that makes you think that you can prevent me from doing so again?" Savage paused his streak of questions to mock them with a laugh. "Oh, let me guess, the little time traveler? I certainly hope she's not your weapon because she will fail. I came to this meeting out of curiosity. It is now sated. Bring Khufu and Chay-Ara to Jurgens Industrial in 24 hours or I will see you dead and buried under the bodies of your loved ones."

He didn't even bother giving them a chance to respond. He was certain of himself and their choice anyways.

~0~

"We have 24 hours," Oliver started off exactly like that, without a readable expression. Everyone in the living room seemed lost.

"Until what exactly?" Kendra asked after a couple minutes of silence.

"Until we are supposed to hand you and Carter over to Savage, or-"

Carter all but rolled his eyes. He'd heard this so many times already. "Savage lays waste to Central City. Yeah. We've been through this before. 1887, the Huang He floods, Savage killed nearly two million people to get to us. And he did."

Though the revelation was huge, Plover didn't let it stop them. "We weren't helping you then. We are now. We have 24 hours to come up with a workable plan."

And no matter how much they discussed, it didn't make sense to Kendra. Eventually, she snapped. "No, this is insane! My life isn't worth millions of people's lives! You can all just stop!"

"Kendra!" Carter called as the woman stormed off.

"I'll talk to her," Cisco volunteered but Carter shooed him off. "Hey, I got this-"

Carter once again stopped him but this time with a mere look. "I said, I'll talk to her."

Cisco glared after the man then sourly said, "Hey, here's an idea- why don't we just toss him over to Vandal Savage?"

"Cisco," Caitlin disapprovingly said.

"Fine!"

~ 0~

"Hey," Belén called to Barry - who was inside the shed - but unintentionally startled him. He paused in what seemed to be a back and forth pace. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. I was just wondering where you were since-"

But before she could finish, Cisco pushed past her in a dramatic manner. "-you basically missed the whole, save the city or turn my girlfriend over to an immortal psychopath briefing!"

Belén glared at Cisco's back but rolled her eyes in the end. She'd let it pass since what he said was indeed true.

"Um...sorry…?" Barry said in a questionable manner that forced Cisco to stop his complaining, and even the screwdriver he was about to throw in anger.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Cisco put the screwdriver down on the table.

"Seriously," Belén took full notice of Barry's nervous demeanor. He had his twitching fingers fiddling with each other when he wasn't putting his arms behind his neck...or his hands in his hair. "Can you stay still for a second?"

Barry dropped his arms when he realized what she meant. He'd been doing his best to keep it at bay, but the more he thought about it the more difficult it was to keep it a secret. "I...I don't really know how to say it…"

"Just say it, maybe?" suggested Cisco, earning himself a momentary look of sarcasm from Barry.

"Fine. Um...earlier when I was on my way to meet with Merlyn and Oliver...I ghosted."

"No…" Cisco immediately went, while Belén tried to understand on the first go.

"Yeah, I think I'm going-"

"-don't say it," Cisco wagged a finger at Barry, not that it mattered since Barry went ahead and said it out loud.

"I think I'm going to time jump."

"I just told you not to say it!"

"Cisco!" Belén exclaimed at the man in out rage while Barry apologized.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what else I'm supposed to do!"

"Barry, you're fine, trust me," Belén said first, hoping to ease his guilt but Cisco had something else to say.

"The first rule of time travel is you don't talk about time travel!"

"Cisco!" Belén covered her face in frustration.

"Because by having this conversation, we're screwing history!"

"Cisco! What was he supposed to do? Keep it bottled up?" Belén gestured to Barry's already nervous state. "One more day and he might fall apart."

Barry wanted to argue in his defense, but it'd really only been a few hours and it was already killing him. "Look, I know that time travel has consequences. I mean, the last time you vibed-"

"-well, I'm not vibing anything right now," Cisco said, calmer than before. "Okay, um, all right, look, don't panic. A: you don't know that you time jumped for a bad reason. It could have been a good one, right?" Barry dutifully nodded, really hoping Cisco was right. "B: now that you know you time jumped, you might not do it, right? So knowing the future might change the present, which might change the future."

"My head hurts," Belén rubbed the side of her head, eyes flickering between Cisco and Barry. "How could anyone be attracted to either of you?"

Barry's and Cisco's looks of pure offence were rather amusing for Belén...not that she'd tell them.

"I'm gonna remember that one," Barry decided to warn, but Belén smirked in return.

"What are you going to do? Stop kissing me? Go ahead, we'll see who suffers more," she winked and turned to leave.

She purposely moved away from shed and even the house altogether. Once she felt like she was truly alone, she pulled out her phone and dialed.

"Belén, hello?" Iris' voice soon answered the call.

"Iris, hey! How are things at STAR Labs?"

"Don't worry, Nina and I are holding down the fort," Iris proudly said. Belén could even picture her friend smiling from ear to ear. "How are you guys doing with Savage and that time traveler?"

"Uuh...things could be better," Belén admitted. She brought a finger to scratch behind her ear. "Listen...I wanted to ask a favor."

"Sure thing! What do you guys need?"

"Well, it's not so much of a group necessity as it is...a necessity for _me_ ," Belén hated to admit right now when it was such a time for teamwork.

"Oh, okay, what is it?"

"I...I...I just recently learned that I can maybe meet with other metas who are like me...in another world."

"Really? How so?"

"I see it like Barry and the Speedforce. It's called the Green, and if I can access that world then I can maybe get a further understanding of my powers."

"That sounds cool! How do you access it!?"

"That's the thing. On my own, I'm not sure. I thought maybe if I found another botanical metahuman they could help me. And that's why I'm calling you."

"Okay, what do you need from me?"

Belén looked around as if someone was watching her. She didn't mean for it to be a secret, but right now it wasn't the right time to tell the others. They needed to focus on Savage. "Can you maybe start a research on any other botanical metahumans nearby? Other than Datura and Poison Ivy, of course."

"Of course," Iris repeated, both sharing a laugh afterwards. "I can definitely look into it. Just because we haven't heard about another botanical metahuman doesn't mean they're not out there."

"That's what I'm counting on," Belén sighed. "Because right now I need all the help I can get and this might be huge"

"I'll do my best, don't worry!" Iris promised.

Belén hoped there would be some light down that dark path Datura was leading her. Hopefully, it started with this...with another botanical metahuman.

~ 0 ~

"What do you guys have?" Graciela expectantly asked of Laurel, Thea and Diggle as soon as the trio returned from their unannounced trip.

"Has a simple 'hello' died in the future?" Thea joked, but Graciela looked unamused.

"Yes, that tends to happen when there's a dictator massacring people."

"Could've just said yes," Thea mumbled and moved away.

"We have something that might help us," Laurel pointed to Diggle who raised an old VCR tape.

Graciela looked lost. "What the hell is that?"

"Aw, I didn't know those still existed," Belén remarked as soon as she came in and saw said tape.

"Lyla hooked us up," Diggle explained. Of course ARGUS would hold onto something like that.

"Where's Felicity?" Laurel looked around for the missing blonde.

"Don't know," shrugged Belén. "Just like I don't know where Barry and Oliver are. You know when those two get together, their secret outings get annoying."

"Sounds more like Oliver's doing than Barry," Laurel said. "And you're right, it does get annoying."

"Well we don't need Felicity to play a tape," Thea motioned Diggle to come over to Felicity's laptop. "We'll just hook it up."

"I'll go get the others," Belén said and hurried to go find them. By the time she returned with the whole group, sans the three missing, Thea had successfully gotten the tape to display on the TV.

"The tape came from a conspiracy theory group that's interested in Savage," Diggle explained just before the tape would play. "Pentagon had a file on Savage back in '86, but it's all been heavily redacted."

Thea pressed the play option and soon a dark-skinned man appeared on the screen.

' _My name is Dr. Aldus Boardman. I'm a professor at St. Roch University. The date is April 8th, 1975. I don't think anyone else knows this, and those that do, don't believe. He's a myth. An urban legend. He has been compared to Machiavelli and Nostradamus. He's gone by many names, but I know him as Vandal Savage, and he will be the death of the world. But I believe there is a way to stop him. Savage is an immortal, Egyptian priest. His long life is a result of an unearthly calamity. I believe that any object associated with this calamity should be able to undo its effects and kill him. And I suspect that our precious, fragile world may one day depend upon us doing so.'_

Thea promptly turned the screen off and looked directly at Kendra and Carter. "Do you have any idea what he meant by these objects? This calamity?"

The two in question exchanged mutual confused looks.

"No, I-I don't recall a calamity," Carter answered first. "And the staff…"

"Staff of Horus?" Graciela chimed in. "That staff belonged to Savage back in ancient Egypt."

"How are you sure?" Diggle asked.

"Because I'm from the future and I read a lot?"

Kendra looked down at her feet when a couple images started playing in her mind. Though they were fast, and partly incoherent, she saw that golden staff in Savage's possession. Graciela was right. But she didn't want to admit she was remembering.

Luckily, Graciela always had good self confidence. She knew exactly what she was talking about. "That staff is key to killing Savage. We need to get it."

"Great, let's get it, then," Carter nodded and led the way.

It was dark when Barry, Felicity and Oliver returned to the safe house, though each at a different time. Oliver was the last and the moment he set foot in the field, Felicity caught him. Barry spotted them through a window and wondered what the hell was going on with those two, because one moment Oliver had him doing secret DNA tests and the next thing he knew Felicity was on his case for helping Oliver.

"What are you doing?" a voice startled Barry, making him knock his forehead against the glass. He quickly pulled away before Felicity or Oliver saw and turned around to see Belén standing there.

"What?" he rubbed his forehead.

"You have been secretive today and I feel like a babysitter," Belén stated plainly, thinking it was enough to make him cautious with his response.

"I...I honestly couldn't tell you what was going on because _I_ don't know what's going on," Barry went with the honest truth. He was _not_ going to get in trouble over something he had no part in.

Belén could more or less deduced he was being honest because he did look rather weary. She moved around him and peered out the window to see Felicity and Oliver presumably arguing. "Oh no. That's not good. Especially when we're about to fight an immortal man. What are they fighting about?"

"I don't know. Should we go out there-"

"-oh _no_ ," Belén whirled around, as if to catch him before he got the idea to go. "We are not getting anywhere near that fight. Our mission right now is to make sure Kendra and Carter are ready. Besides, it's a couple fight and...they're not really asking for opinions, are they?"

Barry gave a shrug. She was right. Oliver had been really secretive with that DNA test, making him swear to keep it from Felicity (which he failed but that's not the point). "Fine."

A couple minutes later, Oliver and Felicity came into the house but made beelines away from each other. One could only deduce that the argument did not end in good terms.

"We're coming up on Savage's deadline," Oliver took control of the group the moment he could. "Are the gauntlets working?"

"They have to be, we're out of time," Caitlin said after checking the clock in the living room.

"But I think they'll work," Cisco said in hopes of adding positivity to the mission. "That staff's going to go from "can't touch this" to "invisible touch."

"Savage doesn't know Kendra has access to her full abilities, which makes you our ace in the hole," Oliver's intense gaze on her made Kendra feel even worse. She felt nowhere near ready to fight, but there wasn't much of an option now was there?

"Okay," she nodded quietly.

"We're going to put you up against Savage; you attack with the element of surprise. I will lay down the cover fire. Barry, you speed in, and-"

"-snatch the staff, I got it," Barry said.

"So where do you need us?" asked Diggle.

"This is me, Barry, Kendra and Carter. We've got it."

There were various reactions from the group, but all seem to fall in a mutual disagreement.

"You can't sit us out," Belén frowned.

"No, we're not risking any more lives tonight than we have to," Oliver's tone hardened even more.

"I don't know how you run in the past, but I'm not following it," Graciela stepped forwards. "You can sit the rest out but I'm not doing it."

"It's not up for debate-"

Graciela's eyes flashed an angry purple, making the pipes of the house creak. Everyone around her, more so Felicity and Cisco, looked up in fear. "-you're right, it's not, cos I'm going."

Oliver stared her down but he had come to his match because she was not wavering. She knew exactly how these things went and she had enough practice as a crook to have her own strength.

"Let's go!" Graciela shouted to the others, choosing not to waste any more time.

However, even though she was on board the others were still more cautious.

"I think we can stay as backup," Belén was the one to say to Barry in the end. "I mean, I'd love to be there up front but...Savage might not realize it."

"Just don't tell that to Oliver," Barry muttered, watching Oliver head out the house. "He's out of it."

"Yeah, I really wish I knew what they fought about," Belén crossed her arms. "But look, right now we just gotta focus on Savage. Be careful, alright?"

Barry nodded. "You too."

"I've got the Black Canary on my side. I'll be good," Belén smiled cheerily. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, sending him on his way.

~ 0 ~

Savage was waiting in the warehouse just like he said he would. A sinister grin spread across his face when he spotted Oliver and Barry bringing in Kendra and Carter, the two wearing their suits as well.

"You brought them. And dressed for the occasion, I see," Savage moved forwards.

"We're only doing this because two lives aren't worth two cities," Oliver said.

"Well, in that case, you are wiser than I gave you credit for." Savage took a moment to look Kendra and Carter over, scoffing a minute later. "It's been a lifetime. Still wearing those ridiculous outfits, I see." He raised a finger to Oliver and Barry. "You don't need to be here for this. The culling has a tendency to be…" He paused as he drew a sharpened knife from his coat's inside pocket, "...unsightly." He turned the knife over for show, making sure both Kendra and Carter got a good look at what was coming. "Your new friends betrayed you."

"Just do what you're going to do," Carter snapped.

Savage smiled at Kendra, practically ignoring Carter. "It's wonderful to see you again, my love."

Kendra felt true disgust at the man. "I will never be your love."

"I know. That always makes this...easier. Chay-Ara, parting is such sweet sorrow." Savage raised the knife and offered Kendra one last smile before drawing it down.

"Now, Kendra!" Oliver screamed.

Kendra delivered a hard kick to Savage's stomach, knocking the man to the ground. She opened her arms, ready to become that weird warrior she was destined to be...but nothing came out. Graciela dropped in from the ceiling and shot a beam of purple energy to keep Savage down while Oliver prepared the gauntlets.

"LET'S GO!" she shouted.

Carter swiped the staff from Savage and tossed it over to Barry who, in turn, handed it to Oliver so that the gauntlets could make contact. A powerful blast erupted from the gauntlets immediately. It made Oliver stumble back but he kept his balance in the end. However, with all the energy hitting him, Savage was still able to get on his feet.

"Crap!" Graciela said just before Savage knocked her to the side with his own magic. Her body tumbled across the warehouse, only picking her head up in time to see him grab Carter's neck and stab him on the back.

Barry started speeding in a circle to create quick thunder, but Savage caught him midway with another blast. The speedster crashed into a set of metal machinery. Like Graciela, he looked up in time to watch Savage stab Kendra on the chest in one swift move.

"No! It's not working!" Graciela scrambled to get on her feet. Her eyes were a dark, almost demonic purple, as she made a run at Savage. The metal around her groaned as its properties were being forced to change at her will.

"Graciela!" Barry called, but at the same time the metal behind him pushed forwards. He barely escaped as it took Savage's body for a ride until Savage destroyed it with a hand movement. "What the hell…" Barry was truly tired of this magic business because he had no idea how to combat it.

He heard Oliver's groans and turned to see him still holding onto the staff and the gauntlets. "Oh God." His eyes widened because Oliver was starting to resemble an old man. The gauntlets and the staff combined seemed to be drawing Oliver's life source. "Oliver, let go!" he panicked when he was able to see bone.

"Barry? What's going on?" Belén's voice came through the ear pods.

"Oliver?" Laurel came in next. "We're coming in!"

"No! Don't!" Barry sped up beside Oliver. "Kendra and Carter are dead!"

"We're coming in!" Belén and Laurel said in unison.

"Please don't-" Barry couldn't finish on account of Graciela crashing into him.

Savage stretched an arm out for Oliver, but only attained his staff again. At the same time, both Belén and Laurel came running in to help.

"This isn't going to end well!" Graciela picked herself off Barry and looked back at Savage. "I know about this - Barry you have to time travel!" she said in quick whir, almost making Barry miss it.

"I have to what-"

"-A DO OVER! GO!" Graciela's scream came just as Savage plunged his staff into the ground, causing an eruption of bright blue energy. It wiped out everything around it, and before Barry knew what he was doing, he ran.

He didn't know what the hell was going on except that everything around him was being burned to death. His first thought went to Belén and the others. _They'redeadthey'redeadthey'read_.

But Graciela's last words came to mind: a do over. Time travel.

And that's when he remembered the 'ghosting'. All his previous fears of time traveling and causing a disturbance in the time lines went to hell. He needed to push himself or everything would be dead.

_Runrunrunrunrunrunrunrun_. Barry went as fast as he could. The blue eradication behind him nearly caught him a few times but he was going to do it. Everything around him became a blue, but only for a few seconds did he see the 'ghost' of his past self running beside him. It disappeared within seconds...and as did the blurry world.

Barry came to a skidded stop in the same place Malcolm Merlyn wanted to meet.

"Thank you for coming…" he heard Oliver's voice, though it still sounded a bit garbled after all the running Barry did.

But once Barry saw the day was still early...he released a heavy breath.

A do over.

~ 0 ~

"What the hell is the Green?" Belén called out to Graciela after their odd conversation. She should've known talking to a future girl was not going to end well, but here she was doing what she could to help out. She turned in the opposite direction Graciela walked off to and started making her own way. She only stopped when she saw Oliver and Barry returning to the safe house after their meet up with Merlyn. "They're back!" she called to Kendra and Carter, forcing the two to stop their training (which, by the sounds of it, was not going well). She sprinted to get there first, and perhaps it was a good thing because Barry was not intending on keeping his time travel a secret. "Hey! What did Merlyn say?"

"Belén!" Barry forgot for a moment what he'd told Oliver and rushed to Belén. She was not expecting such a tight, needy hug but she would always accept one.

"Okay, what's wrong?" she patted his back and looked over his shoulder to Oliver. He had a face as well, like he was processing something.

"He time traveled," Oliver was the one to answer.

Belén's eyes widened in alarm, but even if she wanted to pull away from Barry to look at him...Barry wasn't budging. He pressed a kiss to her hair and held her tight. "Barry, you did what?" she pressed her hands against his chest to pull away. "Barry!"

With a groan, he finally let her go the amount she needed to see him face to face. "Yeah…"

"You're not supposed to do that…"

"Well, Graciela did it-"

"-yeah, and she's probably going to get into trouble. Believe me, I just learned she stole the time travelling watch on her wrist. Why'd you time travel?"

Barry lowered his arms to his sides and turned sideways so that he could talk to both her and Oliver. "We were fighting Savage but things didn't go so well. Everyone died...including you two."

"Oh…" Belén now understood his needy hug and felt the urge to hug him again.

"Graciela was the one to tell me to time travel and...I did," Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "She said she knew what was coming."

"She's from the future, of course she knew that," Oliver sighed.

"Look, what we were doing to fight Savage wasn't working. The gauntlets didn't work and Kendra couldn't access her powers. Savage killed them both and used his staff to create the explosion that killed everything."

"Okay, okay, we can work with this," Belén nodded, choosing to forget the death part right away. It technically didn't happen and she was just going think about that. "It's like when you discovered you went back in time to your mom. We use this as a study guide. We fix our mistakes."

"Right," Barry agreed and turned specifically to Oliver. "That means you, for starters."

"Me?" frowned the man in question.

"When we go up against Savage, your head's not in the game. You're not yourself. And I'm sorry to say this in front of Belén because I don't know if you were planning on telling anyone about it, but...I know you're going to ask me run a DNA test."

Oliver stiffened, ignoring Belén's strange look.

"That said test is going to cause you and Felicity to get into a huge fight. That fight sounded like it was over between you two."

"So when we go up against Savage, I'm not focused," Oliver concluded on his own. "I don't use everything we've got."

"What are we going to about the Kendra not being able to use her powers?" Belén quietly asked. "And the gauntlets?"

"I'll work on that," Oliver muttered, quietly thanking Barry for his knowledge of the future and walking off.

"Someone should tell Graciela," Belén said once they were alone. "She's already time traveled once, who knows what this might mean."

"That we failed?" Barry started for the house, rather glum now that he had time to settle. "She knew exactly what was going to happen when Savage took his staff, so this must have happened before."

"Which is exactly why we need to discuss with her. Maybe she has some pointers too," Belén picked up her pace and beat him to the front door, blocking his way in. "Let's make sure we don't make the same mistakes again."

"I won't," Barry promised her. A warm smile came to her face knowing what he meant. "I had to run and when I did...you were already dead…"

"Not happening again," she leaned forwards and gently kissed his lips. "Now let's do this...again…"

~ 0 ~

With the knowledge of their failed attempt to win Savage, the group worked harder than the first time. Cisco and Caitlin triple checked those gauntlets, and would have gone for a fourth had Oliver not convinced Cisco to try his hand at helping Kendra access her powers. The only one who seemed to be having trouble with the news, more than the others anyways, was Graciela.

"I mean, we'll get him this time," Barry attempted to ease her doubts before they gathered for another brief. Well, it was really more of a group effort with him, Oliver and Belén.

Graciela shook her head, looking far more concerned but it was pertaining to the fight against Savage. "You don't get it. You time traveled in the same period I did. That means _they_ felt it."

"They? Who's they?" Oliver asked.

Graciela seemed reluctant to speak freely, but then again her options weren't so good anyways. She drew in a breath and leaned against the dining table. "The people I stole the watch from. They're Time Masters and...they have eyes all over the timeline. I knew that time travelling here would get me into some trouble, but I figured I'd have more time to finish things...but Barry time travelling in the same period I did, so close to the date I first arrived...they're coming for me, quicker now."

"Then we'll stop them," Belén said matter-of-factly, but Graciela shook her head.

"No, we're focusing on Savage. I want him dead by tonight."

"But if you're head's not in the right place, we won't be able to do that," Barry said, knowing exactly where he spoke from.

"I know," Graciela agreed. She took in a deep breath and used it to relax herself as much as she could. "I read about Savage's staff in the future. There were rumors that the timeline had been rewritten several times because he did the same trick. The Time Masters...they're very good when they want to be. They've restored the timeline, but...we can't let Savage do that again. For the sake of my home, and yours, he needs to die tonight."

"And I think I know how to make that happen," Kendra strode into the house with a new sense of confidence. Cisco seemed pretty happy as well, indicating his talk with her had gone well.

"I'm all ears," Graciela leaned off the table.

Kendra made sure the rest of the group were in the room so that she could explain herself. "I remembered how Savage killed us the first time back in Egypt. These sky rocks-meteors- they fell and they completely destroyed the royal palace."

"During the Middle Kingdom, Egypt experienced a high level of meteorite activity," Felicity recalled from her vast knowledge.

"That can be the calamity Professor Boardman was referencing in the tape," Caitlin realized quick.

"It makes sense," Kendra agreed. "The meteors, they had a glow about them. And Savage's staff had two gemstones with the exact same glow."

"So the gemstones might be made up of the same element as the meteorite," Barry made the connection as well. "That could be why the gauntlets didn't work the first time."

"Yeah, the gemstones might be made up of the same element as the meteorite. The Egyptians would use meteorite in their craftsmanship. And the minerals glow in proximity to each other," Cisco suddenly grinned when he got to add, "Like Sankara Stones."

"Oh, wait, the Indiana Jones reference is the only thing I understood," Thea looked to someone for help.

"Two pieces of the same meteorite, that is the key to counteracting the staff," Belén was proud to say that she understood.

Laurel got on her laptop fast when she remembered something about meteorites from their previous research on Egypt and Savage. "Look, there's there's a sample of the meteorite from the Middle Kingdom at the Keystone City Museum of Natural…"

But Barry took off without another word, leaving a wind trail behind him. He returned two seconds later with the meteorite in hand. "Got it!"

Cisco snatched it from his hand, gingerly holding it while he examined it. "I could synthesize the compatible isotope out of this and coat the gauntlets with it."

"That I did not understand," Belén mumbled to Thea who agreed with a hum.

"This can work," Graciela said with a newfound confidence. It was good because she knew by this time she was reaching high on the Time Master's priority list.

"It will," Oliver agreed. "Everyone else: suit up."

~ 0 ~

Like before, Savage was waiting for the group to arrive at the agreed place. However this time, everyone was ready for the 'trade off'.

"It's wonderful to see you again, my love," he said for Kendra, who shivered in disgust.

"I will never be your love."

"I know. That always makes this easier. Chay-Ara...parting is such sweet sorrow-"

But Kendra could not wait for him to finish. Oliver drew an arrow and shot the knife right out of Savage's hand.

Kendra immediately followed with her wings, and perhaps a hawk scream. She took Savage into her arms and pulled him into the air before dumping him on the ground. A black van screeched as it made its entrance into the building, making a quick swerve so that it's trunk faced the fight.

As soon as its doors flung open, the Black Canary's sonic scream filled the room. It forced Savage to stop fighting against Kendra and Carter for a second and fight off the sound waves.

It was then that Belén flung a vine and forced the staff out of Savage's hand. He growled and turned to retrieve it but Graciela delivered a consecutive wave of energy beams. Despite Savage's attempts to fight off the energy, he couldn't break free of the others' combats. It gave Barry the perfect shot to retrieve the staff from where it landed.

"Get clear!" he ordered. The group jumped out of the way just as he ignored the staff with the gauntlets. Savage was hit with the force of power, but it wasn't enough yet to take him down. He fought it with his bare hands.

Oliver joined Barry and together held the staff, hoping that between them it would be enough to stand against Savage. The others encircled the procession in case anything went wrong...but to their fortune...it didn't. The staff erupted with a new force of energy and burned Savage to ash.

Before Barry and Oliver knew it, the staff was no longer in their hands. It had disappeared.

"Did we do it? Is he gone?" Thea stared at the ash as if Savage was reform any second.

"Grace?" Belén nicknamed the woman without even noticing.

"I don't know, it's never happened…" Graciela admitted and turned her attention to Kendra and Carter for some additional help.

But like her, they were at a loss of words.

~0~

It was a beautiful day at Central City, especially when it was rid of villainous immortal beings.

"One Java chip and caramel macchiato for Belén!" a Jitters barista called as she pushed two coffee cups down the counter.

Belén was there to pick them up and return to the group waiting by the doors with their own drinks.

"Thanks," Graciela took her Java chip and took a moment to smell the sweet chocolatey scent. "Mmm, we don't have that smell at home anymore."

"Hopefully now you do," Kendra smiled, knowing Graciela was getting ready to return to the future.

"We'll see," Graciela raised her cup in the air before taking a sip. She moaned as she tasted the delicious drink. "Oh my God this is good!"

"So how do you feel now that Savage is pushing daisies?" Cisco asked Kendra and Carter once they were outside. "Does this mean you guys are the immortal ones now and he's the one who gets reincarnated? 'Cause that would suck."

"I just sprouted wings a few days ago, and I'm just trying to wrap my head around that," Kendra said, really just taking step by step.

"He does raise a good point, though," Barry admitted. It'd been the question they couldn't answer since last night. "Savage is gone for good now, right?"

"I don't know. We never defeated him before," Carter paused to think about something else they hadn't yet. "But we're free." Kendra agreed and hugged him.

"Ugh, get a room," Cisco muttered. Belén partes his back comfortingly, knowing he was doing his best to keep his feelings out of this.

"You finally have the rest of your lives in front of you. Have you thought about what you're going to do?" asked Oliver.

"Carter says in our past lives, we used to help people. And after everything you guys have done for me, I think I should give that a try," Kendra said with a sense of determination.

"You make it sound like this try is happening somewhere else," Belén noted, feeling worse for Cisco.

"In our prior incarnation, we used to live in St. Roch, and we really liked it there," Carter looked at Kendra, but she was already gazing at Cisco.

"Could Cisco and I have a moment?" she asked softly.

"Of course," Carter was the one to say and led the way away.

Graciela ominously checked her time watch and saw a red dot blinking on the screen. She quietly cleared her throat and took another sip of her coffee.

"Hey Grace - sorry," Belén has caught herself before and she hated that she kept doing it.

"It's fine," Graciela smiled. "I kinda like it."

"I was just going to ask...about that place you talked about before?" Belén awkwardly smiled. "The Green?"

"Right," Graciela released a breath, giving the wrong indication that she didn't want to go further on that subject.

"I mean I totally understand if you're trying to keep the timeline in tact and all...we don't have to-"

"-no, we can," Graciela looked at the whole group with a smirk. "It's not like I was one for keeping it intact, right?"

"Still…"

"Look, Belén, I'm not an expert on the Green. I just read about it, from your article I'll remind, and there's always rumors about it. Every botanical metahuman has a connection to that place."

"How do you get there, though?"

"You command it with the mind but you physically go in," Graciela shrugged. "I think it's just up to you to access it."

"Oh, well, that should be easy," Belén sighed.

Barry placed a hand on her shoulder. "And she'll get it. Because she always does."

"Thanks for the support," Belén languidly said and drank dejectedly from her coffee.

"So what are you going to do now?" Oliver inquired from Graciela. "Go back home? Or…"

Graciela didn't tell them she heard the alert on her watch getting louder, they'd soon see for themselves. "Home. I don't belong in this time and...I knew what was going to happen when I stole the time watch."

"About that..." Barry was cautious in how he spoke about the matter, "...the people you stole it from...are they going to be okay with that? I mean, you said your friend, right?"

"I don't regret it," Graciela reiterated, though now she was looking past the two metas. They, along with Oliver, followed her gaze to see a portal opening and letting in a group of uniformed men and women.

"Who are they?" Oliver narrowed his eyes on what he perceived as the threat.

"The Time Masters, coming to collect their prisoner," Graciela drank the last of her coffee and dumped it into the trash bin behind her.

"Graciela Haynez," a man from the group called as he led the way. "You are under arrest for theft and illegal time traveling." Just as Graciela was raising her hands, the man yanked her arms harshly and turned her around to cuff her from behind.

"What are you doing to her?" demanded Barry, ready to step forwards when Graciela called for them to stay still.

"It's okay! Don't do anything!" she faced the man that shot her with a glower. "It was worth it. The Time Masters' organization is a sham. It's full of convenience."

"And yet you fraternize with two of ours," the man behind her made sure to say loudly, as if it would shame her into silence. "You calling them fake as well?"

Graciela rolled her eyes. "They're my friends, and they're genuine, but they don't have the power to change the entire system. So I took it into my own hands. And now I'm ready to face the consequences."

"Graciela Haynez, ," the man pushed her to turn for the portal, but she fought to turn around and face him. "You have changed the timelines without consent-"

"-I don't care!" she snapped and smacked his chest with her shoulder.

"You also have murder on your tracklist, according to London's authorities-"

"-and!?"

"Barry, they're hurting her!" Belén attempted to move but Barry and even Oliver held onto each of her arms.

"She said not to," Oliver reminded, but it was hard to watch knowing how it was going to end.

The group had moved in on Graciela, each attempting to subdue her. Despite being cuffed, Graciela did put up a fight.

"I'm not resisting! I just want to say goodbye!" she yelled frantically. "That's my legal right, isn't it? Or has your corrupted system taken that out as well?"

The Time Masters seemed unsure and looked to their leader for a command. The leader, in turn, noticed the people around them starting to stare. He gave a nod for them to pick Graciela up and give her what she wanted. Once she was back on her feet, two of them held her arms and walked her up to the trio.

"What's going to happen to you?" Belén asked, her eyes flickering to the dangerous-looking people behind Graciela.

Graciela shrugged, returning to normal within the second as if things weren't going down like this. "I'm going to jail."

"And you say it just like that?"

"Because that's what she was always going to do," Oliver realized,

Belén whipped her head in his direction. "What?"

"He's right," Graciela nodded. "It was the plan. I said it."

"But why?" Belén found herself asking. And to be fair, it was a good question. Graciela had the means to run and hide after all. "That watch can take you anywhere."

"I also said I stole it from a friend that I...deeply care about," Graciela's eyes lowered for a minute. It gave enough indication of just how much she cared for this friend. "If I know this... organization enough, then I know they're probably dragging him through the mud thinking he gave me the watch in secret."

"You're clearing his name by putting yourself in jail," Barry nodded.

"I love him. I can't do that to him," Graciela nodded to herself. She would never openly admit that but she wasn't ever going to see any of these people again. "He's one of the two who are honestly trying to help people, unlike this lot."

"Will we ever see you again?" Belén assumed she knew the answer, but she had to try.

Graciela shook her head. "Probably not. But it was really cool meeting you guys." A big grin came to her face. "I always read about the metas from the 21st century. I think you guys are the most famous, honestly. The Azalea, the Flash and the Arrow - not to mention Supergirl and Solar? You guys are awesome. And for a crook like me to actually get to fight alongside you guys...it gives hope that maybe one day a new Jinx might take up the mantle and do some good."

"Let's go," called the leader.

"Bye guys," Graciela offered a smile before she was forced to turn around.

"No, wait!" Belén called but it was too late.

Graciela was forced through the portal with all the Time Masters around her as if she would escape. In two seconds she was gone with no trace after her. It was as if things never happened.

~0~

After saying goodbye to everyone else, and boy was it a decent amount of people, Belén was ready to return home. Home sweet home. But after such an intense two days, it was a bit difficult to unwind and just...be normal again.

"Not hungry?" Barry asked two times before Belén finally heard him. They were at her apartment, attempting to have a normal dinner that night. Things weren't going that well.

Belén stopped picking at her plate and put her fork down. "Sorry. I'm tired...and I just can't stop thinking about…"

"Grace?" Barry finished for her and got a nod from her.

"It's too bad her nickname caught on after she got sent to jail," Belén sighed and pushed her plate away. "I'm sorry. Thanks for dinner but I'm not very hungry."

"Yeah, I see that," Barry got up from his seat and moved to Belén's chair. He held his hand out for her and pulled her up from her seat. "And I'm sorry I can't do anything to help you."

"I'm not the one that needs help," Belén pointed out. "It's Graciela. I mean, she helped us take down Vandal Savage and what's her prize? Jail."

"Belén, she stole a time watch and she time traveled illegally. Those are crimes in her time," Barry sighed. "I mean I know I should look at who's talking, but…"

"I know," Belén nodded, but it didn't make it easy to deal with. "I just think it's not fair."

Barry took her to the living room and sat down on the couch. He gently pulled her body onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her.

"Kind of puts our morals into question, doesn't it?" Belén rested her head over his shoulder. Her light breathing tickled Barry's neck. "She did a bad thing to do a good thing. And from what I got, she used to do bad things but she turned a new leaf. I hope she's being treated decently."

"Mhm," Barry pressed a kiss to her forehead.

Belén let a few minutes pass in silence. Her body was tired, as was her mind in general. She felt so comfortable with Barry right now, she didn't want it to end. "Hey Barry, can you stay tonight?" she picked her head up and brought a hand to his shoulder.

Barry didn't want to say it out loud but staying overnight was something they both needed. She died in an alternate timeline, after all. The burning blue behind him wasn't something he could forget so easily.

"Just...to sleep, just sleeping," Belén said after a minute passed without Barry's response. They hadn't really stayed in the same bedroom since they fought the Reverse Flash, but even then it'd only been to sleep, nothing more.

Barry felt his face warm up but he quickly nodded in an attempt to hide it. "Yeah, of course. Just to sleep. Sleeping is good. Good, good, good…"

A smile came to Belén's face, as well as a light chuckle. "Thanks. I love you."

"I love you too," Barry smiled with her. He tucked some of her hair behind her ear and kissed her.

~0~

Graciela was pushed down into a rusty, metal chair of an interrogation room. Her wrists were forced down on the table and kept there like magnets.

"Do we really have to go through this when I am pleading guilty?" she raised an eyebrow at the Time Master in front of her. "I just needed a chance to clear up any mistakes in your file."

"We already know what happened," the man said matter-of-factly. "The Time watch in your possession belonged to our fellow Time Master, Rip Hunter. Question is, how'd you convince him to hand it to you?"

Graciela didn't know whether to laugh at how ridiculous that was, or cry out of frustration that she had to once again repeat her entire guilty plead. "You're kidding right? _I_ thought of a plan and I executed it on my own. Rip didn't have anything to do with this and the idea that he willingly gave up his watch is laughable." The Time Master stared long and hard at her while he deduced whether or not she was being honest. Graciela just smirked in the end because no matter much trouble she was in, it was damn worth it. "I did what you all wouldn't. A Jinx might have saved the world. Vandal Savage is dead."

The man across her did not seemed fazed. "Is he, though?"

Graciela's smirk faltered. "What?"

"Vandal Savage is crucial to our timeline, to our world. You cannot kill him."

By now, Graciela's smirk was gone. "What - what are you talking about?"

"He will live, because he is meant to." The Time Master snapped his fingers and the interrogation room door opened. "Because this is only the beginning of things. You did exactly what you were supposed to do, what we saw you doing."

"You don't - you can't say that! He's dead!" Graciela started pulling at her wrist binds, essentially pulling at the table. "He's dead!"

"He _lives_ ," the man reiterated with such confidence it rocked Graciela to the core.

"NO!" she started screaming when two men entered the room to unbind her from the table to take her away. "STOP! HE CAN'T LIVE! Not after what we did! STOOOP!"

Her echoes carried out even as she was dragged away.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

And that concludes this prequel to Graciela's story! Her story, titled **Redemption** , is already posted on my profile and continues her arc in Legends of Tomorrow!

But on another note, our girl Belén finally has some way to fight Datura again. Hopefully she's able to get into the Green soon! P.S the Green is taken from the DC world but, as usual, will be twisted to fit my world!

As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is **"saiilorstars"**


	11. Black Orchid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following a tip from a time travelling friend, Belén starts the endeavor to find a way into the Green: a world for all botanist metahumans. She goes in search of a potential ally from another botanist metahuman, Black Orchid, who seems like she would rather work alone.

"So...Mom knows about you?" Maritza watched her sister's uncomfortable form on the other side of the glass. Belén gave a silent nod of her head. She'd told Maritza about her mother finding out, in the worst way possible, she was the Azalea. "Gosh, Belén...she didn't take it well, did she?"

Belén shook her head. "Nope. She's moved on from the 'I'm ignoring you' phase and she's onto full fledged anger."

"I think the word 'metahuman' is just tarnished for her after everything that's happened," Maritza said, though in no way did she mean to give their mother a pass on her behavior. "I'm sorry."

"No, this one's not on you. It's on me," Belén sighed. "I thought that maybe after telling her my secret, things between us might start getting better again, but…"

"I'm sorry," Maritza felt the need to say again. After everything Belén had told her, going from their mother's challenging personality to the metahumans hunting them down...Maritza could only say 'sorry'. She wished, _wished_ , that she could do something to help Belén but her past choices have prohibited her from. "I really wish I could help you out there."

Belén found it in her to smile. She didn't know how, or when, but coming to see Maritza had stopped being a chore and more like...a way to relieve stress. She could tell Maritza everything that was going on and not be judged. She hadn't quite forgiven Maritza for everything she did last year, but...Belén could say she was getting there.

Feeling her phone buzz inside her pocket, Belén gave it a quick check and found a text from Iris. She had to say goodbye to Maritza in order to meet back at STAR Labs.

~ 0 ~

Iris had done her job as best as she could and when she wanted to, she could almost be like a spy the way she found information on people. She had pulled up a profile of a woman dressed in a black and magenta suit with an over-sized jacket. Soon as Cisco saw the picture he let out a wolf whistle, along with questions about her specific clothing choice.

"This is why I do the suits, just saying," he raised his hands to show he was just making a statement...a true statement.

"Who are we looking at, Iris?" Belén asked, brown eyes already scanning the woman's picture till it burned in her mind.

"She calls herself Black Orchid," Iris began. She rose from her seat and zoomed in on the picture of woman. "As far as anyone knows, she's a meta with - take a guess - plant-based powers who usually appears in the lower parts of the city."

"The slummy parts?" Barry figured that would be the best place to lay low and still make a name for themselves.

"She's not known for always appearing when needed, but she's still known enough to have search engine results," Iris scrolled through some of her pictures, stopping at a familiar tab. "This is actually from my old blog. People still send me stuff and take a look at the date for this post."

Belén walked up to the screen to find the date stamp. The picture was of Black Orchid holding up one, no doubt, petty thief in her arms in front of a crowd of people. "That's last month." She turned sideways, one finger pointed behind her at the picture. "She's an active meta, then."

"It's been weeks since her last appearance but do you know what's interesting about that too? It's right around the time Datura and you fought for the first time."

"Could it be that's she's scared of Datura, then?" Caitlin's theory made sense since pretty much everyone in the room feared the siphoner.

"It also means she's keeping up with the news and thus still very much in the city," Barry crossed his arms.

"So, why exactly are we looking for this girl?" Cisco made the question he'd been dying to ask ever since Iris made them gather in the cortex.

Belén walked back to the main desk and put her arms over them, nervous for some reason. It wasn't like her friends would call her crazy for what she wanted to do, after all. "Graciela mentioned a place to me - the Green - that I could use to contact other metahumans that are like me. It's a place like the Speedforce, if you will, where I could train and...meet metas like me. Meta who could help me get better so that I can fight Datura and actually stand a chance."

"And you think Black Orchid will be that meta?" Cisco languidly pointed at the picture on the screen.

"With any luck, she's got a better handle on her powers," Belén shrugged. "And I can pretty much use any help I can get."

"It's worth a shot," Barry agreed with her. "We just have to find her and bring her in."

"Like...here?" Caitlin blinked. She hadn't made that connection until now. "Do we think that'd be a good idea? Revealing where the Azalea and the Flash work?"

"She's obviously taking on crime already," Iris gestured to the pictures she'd collected. "She could be a good addition to the team."

"Black Orchid was a villain on my Earth before she disappeared," Harry startled the group from behind. He'd come in as quiet as usual and strode down the room with purpose. He came to a stop in front of the pictures on the screen and gazed at them for a few seconds. "You should be careful. She's as toxic as you, Belén."

"But she's not a villain here, clearly," Belén said. "And I actually need her to be toxic, okay?"

Harry turned sideways, giving them all a look that said 'you're all idiots and are going to get killed'. "Bringing in more metahumans into this is only going to blow up in your face. You want to take Datura down? You kill her already."

"Easier said than done," Belén folded her arms. "And I'm not exactly looking to kill her."

"She is with you."

"Okay," Barry cut in before Harry's imprudence got worse. "Thank you, Harry, for your input but this is something Belén wants to do. I support her and so does everyone else."

Harry scoffed lightly. "Course you do. Cos you're all idiots."

"Do you have a better idea?" Cisco called from behind. "No?" he let a few more seconds of silence pass by before saying, "Then hush!"

"Thanks guys," Belén sent her friends a warm smile. "And thanks Iris for searching. My head's been all over the place, so…"

Iris nodded at her. "Any time. I can keep looking if you want."

"I say we focus on Black Orchid right now," Belén glanced at the screen. "We need to find her, so...yeah. Let's focus on where she appears most."

As the group made plans to continue searching for Black Orchid, eventually dispersing from the room, Harry inched closer to the super suits left on display. He looked over his shoulder to make sure he was alone in the room then yanked off Belén's suit tracker. He then gingerly planted a decoy in its place. _For Jessie_.

~ 0 ~

Datura swiftly caught Belén's suit tracker with both her hands and squealed with genuine delight. "Finally!" She held the small device between her fingers and clicked her tongue. "Now the game can finally start!"

Harry stood across her in the alley, his face blank of any expression. "My daughter is safe, right?"

Datura lowered her hand and offered one sneaky smile. "Sure. I do remember to feed her once in a while." She waited for his reaction but he stood frigid. "Don't like my joke? Fine. So-" she tucked the suit tracker into her pocket, "-what's my dear Belén up to now?"

Harry stayed quiet for a few minutes. He hated this so much. A snitch. That's what he was reduced to by some 25 year old in a leather suit. Not just that but a thief and a traitor.

"Wells?" Datura's voice darkened, as did the part of her face Harry could see with her mask. "I need to know what Belén is up to. I might just forget to give Jesse some dinner today."

The mention of his daughter made the man finally move from his stance. "She's looking for the metahuman, Black Orchid."

Datura snorted. "Killed her off a while ago," she mumbled. Her dark eyes met his surprised gaze and caused another sneaky smile to spread across her face. "What? You didn't know that one? Offed her months ago."

"Why?" Harry asked wearily. He would love to finally know what she was planning, what Zoom was planning...but learning that would mean he'd die seconds later.

"She was in my way and I thought she would be the one," Datura's cryptic answer was almost like she hadn't answered at all. All Harry got from that was it just another fight between criminals. "Anyways," she played with one of her long curls, "Let Belén find the doppelganger. No matter how hard she trains she'll never be better than me. It's just impossible." She turned to leave but stopped to give Harry one more warning, "By the way, Zoom might be requiring something from you soon."

At that, Harry gulped.

~ 0 ~

"I think we got a pretty good location, don't you think?" Iris glanced back at Belén to see the woman staring down at the kitchen table that held all of their information on Black Orchid.

They were in Belén's apartment, scouring through every last detail they could find of their meta. Together, they'd found more pictures of Black Orchid, some even when she was in the middle of some pretty gruesome fights.

"She's pretty much all over the slummy streets but, if I counted right, she's appeared at this intersection more than the others," Belén picked up a picture of an intersection that happened to hold a pretty cruddy-looking bar. "I bet you that bar is where we'll find out more about her."

"You want to go there?" Iris made a face at the picture. It was only a picture and it already scared her.

"It's okay, I can go by myself," Belén's reassurance didn't exactly help Iris because she didn't want Belén going there by herself either.

But someone knocked on the door, preventing Iris from voicing these opinions out loud. Belén let the picture back on the table and went to go open the door.

"Mom?" she blinked in surprise to see Veronica. Of course, when the surprise faded she was pretty relieved - and perhaps partly excited - to see her. "Come in!"

Veronica, in her part, still looked pretty unsure of herself. She walked in and gave a brief, small smile at Iris. "You're busy…"

"Yeah, but, don't worry. You wanted to talk?" Belén's excitement did not go unnoticed by Veronica.

With a sigh, Veronica shrugged. "I would like to, but...I don't know if it'll change things." She walked towards the kitchen and noticed all the papers sprawled across the table. "Were you two working?"

Iris didn't know what to respond with. She looked to Belén for some help, or clues, as to what to say. Would Belén want to disclose what they were actually doing or keep it away from Veronica?

"Yeah, we're looking for someone," Belén came to stand beside her mother, looking pretty unsure herself.

"A meta?" the distaste in Veronica's tone was clear for anyone to pick up on. She picked up a photograph of Black Orchid and frowned. "So you're really deep into this metahuman world."

"I have to be, Mom. I'm one of them," Belén said quietly and with eyes boring onto her mother's face for a reaction.

"Don't…" Veronica seemed to shiver at the reminder of Belén's metahuman side. "I wish you wouldn't say that so openly."

"Why not? It's the truth."

"Yes, but…" Veronica stopped and glanced at Iris. Just as the reporter was about to announce her departure, Veronica caught her off guard with a question. "How do you let her do this? How can you just let Belén go into this dangerous world and be okay with it?"

"Mom!" Belén exclaimed disapprovingly, but Iris was good with quick responses thanks to her line of work.

"Because it's her choice and, to be honest, she's a perfect fit for the job," Iris crossed her arms. "She and Barry are the perfect people to protect us. And people like us-" she pointed at herself then Veronica, "-have a duty to help them wherever we can. That includes being supportive."

Veronica's face was indescribable. On some part, she seemed impressed with the response...but then another part was angry Iris wasn't taking her side. "Well...you would say that," she said in the end in a low mumble, "Barry's your brother...does Joe know about this?" Iris didn't have to say or do anything for Veronica to know. "Course he does because he's your father."

"Mom, I thought we were going to talk…" Belén inwardly sighed. She should've known that Veronica would not get over this so quickly. At least there was no shouting this time.

"Belén, I just don't understand why you are so fixated on this...this world!"

"Because it's _my_ world, mom. And I can't abandon it when there's so many people that could get hurt if I do."

Veronica shook her head. "I-I think we need to continue this another day because…"

Belén didn't want to keep pausing this argument because every time they did, it just dragged on the feelings more. But she also feared that if they kept going in one go, they really would just end up shouting at each other like the other times. At least this case seemed to be so grave for Veronica that she wasn't shouting. She was thinking. She may be thinking the wrong things but at least she was thinking…

"I'm here...whenever you want to pick up on things…" she said quietly.

Iris sympathized for her friend while Veronica walked out. "Bells, I'm so sorry."

"No," Belén sniffed and turned back for the table, eyes flickering from one picture to the other. "I need to focus on this."

"Yeah, but-"

"-Iris, I have to focus on this first. Maybe my mom just needs some more days to process this." Belén wanted to believe this so badly.

~ 0 ~

The pictures of Central City's slum parts did no justice to its reality. There was a lot more graffiti on the walls, a lot more trash on the streets. A lot of people were ruder and definitely looking for something to pick-pocket. Belén kept her arms crossed over her chest as she walked down the street. She found the bar from the picture she and Iris were looking at and went directly inside.

There was a foul odor at the entrance that she wished she could forget.

"Take a seat with me sweetheart," she heard a man say as she walked in.

"Screw off," she spat without sparing him a glance. She came up to the bar counter, which was pretty empty save for two more customers at the end. She pulled her phone out and left it on the counter in front of her, just in case she needed to snap pictures or look at one of the ones she already have.

A tall Asian woman with long, dark hair came by a couple minutes later. "What can I get you?"

"Um…" Belén wasn't that big of a drinker, and much less during the day so she just asked for a mimosa. While she waited, she began to look around the bar with more searching eyes. She didn't see anyone that would necessarily stand out. Everyone seemed to be doing their own things, whether it was legal or not.

"Here you go," the bar tender returned with the bright orange drink in her hand. As she put the glass down, her eyes lingered on Belén for a few seconds. "You looking for someone?" her tough voice startled Belén. When the woman nearly fell off her stool, the bartender smiled. "You're not from around here."

"That easy to tell?" Belén bit her lower lip.

"Yeah. Don't walk alone in these parts."

"Is it really that bad here?"

The bartender nodded her head. She popped a bubble from her bubble gum and smirked. "Not if you know how to take care of yourself."

Belén saw some odd marks on the side of the woman's neck. She was sure there were some stitches poking up from her blouse. "Are you okay?" she pointed at the injuries, startling the bartender for a moment.

"Yeah. Just got into it with someone, no big deal." The bartender seemed to shift from friendly to brief. "My name's Shivhan if you want to leave a tip," she said before walking away.

Belén picked up her mimosa and had a couple sips from it. As she was putting it down, she heard a familiar voice behind her that nearly made her spill the glass.

"You are beautiful but crazy," Barry stood behind her and not too pleased.

Belén turned her stool sideways so she could see him. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Iris told me you were coming here! Belén!" he whisper-hissed as he sat down next to her. "This is a shady place to be at on your own, Bells. How could you come here alone?"

"Um, because I'm a big girl who can take care of herself?"

Barry deadpanned her. That's not what he meant and she knew it. "It never hurts to have backup. Besides, do you even know what you'd say to Black Orchid if you found her?"

"No, but...I'm a reporter. I'd wing it," Belén picked up her mimosa again and smiled.

Barry shook his head at her. "Alright, so what do have? Any clues?"

"Not really. I was just kind of scoping the area out," Belén shrugged and briefly looked back at the room. "But there's barely any people here and those who are, are definitely not Black Orchid."

Barry could agree with that since almost every customer in the building were men. "Maybe we should try later."

"I'm hoping something will happen that would make Black Orchid appear."

"Bit cynical," remarked Barry.

"Desperate." Belén sighed and forgot about her glass as she turned her stool to face the room. "I don't know, maybe we could speed things up or something."

"Like how?"

"Well...Black Orchid seems to appear whenever there's trouble, so…"

Barry was giving her a strange look. "You want us to stage a fight?"

"Something like that."

"I don't know about that Belén...I think we need to come up with a good plan and then-"

Belén was about to cut him off with the fact they didn't - or rather _she_ didn't - have time to sit down and plan, when they heard a loud crash from outside. At once Belén jumped off her stool and tried to peer out into the street from her spot.

"Fight! Fight!" a crowd sitting near the door started to chant, prompting some delirious laughter from the room. It was only a matter of seconds before they rushed out into the streets.

"Creeps," Shivhan, the bartender, spat while she continued to wipe down the counter.

Barry got up as well and sprinted up to the window to see what was going on. Belén soon followed and saw with him that there were a couple of masked thieves making out of a shop with some valuables. Two of them had guns.

"We gotta do something," Barry rushed out the door but just as he was about to leave the sidewalk, Belén yanked him to her side.

"This is our chance!"

"Belén, someone could get hurt!"

"They won't because you'll intervene if she's not here in 1 minute," Belén promised then faced the street.

The thieves were trying to make an escape but there were being confronted with another group intending on taking the stolen valuables. Just as they were about to fire, something purple swooped down and punched the two gunmen from the first thief band.

"I told you…" Belén sounded breathless as she gazed at none other than Black Orchid. Barry had to hand it to her and her precise thinking.

Black Orchid was a feared presence by most of the people outside, judging how they stepped back. From what they could see, the meta had long, dark hair and dark eyes hidden behind a black mask that covered half her face. She wore a one-suit in the colors of black and violet. It was the same one Iris had shown them earlier.

Black tendrils sprouted from the woman's back and captured three of the men. She threw them halfway down the street without regards of where they hit or how hard they hit. She then ducked to avoid being hit by one of the men behind her. She jumped back up and kicked a leg up to knock the man down. As bullets fired towards her, she used her vines to create a shield where the bullets embedded themselves. Once she disbanded the shield, she sent the bullets right back and injured two more men. The last two remaining were from each of band and they both looked equally terrified.

"Drop it and go," she ordered in a rough voice.

The two instantly dropped their stolen things and made a run for it. Black Orchid raised three fingers and when she'd pulled them down, her arm did a boomerang action and released two different black masses that attached themselves to the men.

"Barry, we gotta get her alone," Belén spoke quietly to the speedster next to her.

"But how?" Barry looked around and saw that while the thieves had been taken down - killed, really - the crowd around them was still watching Black Orchid like hawks.

"I brought something with me," Belén admitted. Barry looked down at her and saw her reaching into her purse. She showed him the tip of a syringe. His eyes widened at it but before he could say something she said, "It's a sedative."

"Belén, we can't really do-"

"-I need her, Barry," she told him like this was already decided with or without him. "Datura _is_ going to kill me if I don't up my game. Black Orchid can help me do that."

There was some questionable tactics Barry saw Black Orchid far too comfortable with, but he knew that he could stand there and argue with Belén without making a difference. "Fine." He took the syringe from her and disappeared. A minute later, so did Black Orchid.

When Belén felt a set of arms pull her as well, she smiled. She found herself in an alley where Black Orchid was already down with sedation. "Thank you," she said to the speedster.

Barry gazed down at the unconscious metahuman. "I don't think _she'll_ be thanking us for this."

~0~

Team STAR Labs was never one for kidnapping. So when Barry and Belén brought in a guest, kidnapped and unconscious, they had much to say over the matter.

"This is not legal," Caitlin was the first to say, or scold, at the two metas. Barry and Belén stood in the middle of the cortex, listening to everyone having their go at them. "You kidnapped someone!"

"Well, if I asked she wouldn't have come," Belén argued. "You guys didn't see her out there. She's tough."

"And you think you need to be the same?" Cisco's doubtful stare made her roll her eyes.

"I need to change something and she can help me figure out what."

"Least she's taking initiative," Harry inputted his own opinion, surprising Belén that he was actually siding with her since he originally didn't agree with the plan of finding Black Orchid. "You can't always be soft. Especially when someone's trying to kill you."

"Uh, thanks Harry," she offered the man a small smile before looking at Caitlin and Cisco. "I'm not hurting her. I just needed to get her here so I could talk to her."

"And if she doesn't want to help?" asked Cisco.

"Let's hope she does."

"Well…" Caitlin has looked up from a computer, "... now's your chance. She just woke up."

~0~

Black Orchid was a woman who could be _scary_. Her balled fists repeatedly pounded against the pipeline pod. "LET ME OUT!" She screamed and screamed the same thing.

Cisco honestly thought the pod wouldn't last if this kept going.

Black Orchid only stopped when she saw someone coming into the pipeline. She straightened up and raised her head to judge if this person was going to help or not. "Who are you?" She didn't have to wait for a verbal answer since she saw clear as day who was on the other side. "The Azalea? Hm. That's a shocker. Would you let me go? I didn't do nothing wrong."

"You did kill people…" Belén reminded, though not as a way to punish her.

"They're thugs! It's kill or be killed!"

"Look, I'm not here to talk about who you killed or how many you killed. I need your help."

Black Orchid dropped her arms to her sides. Her chin raised again and though she had a mask on, Belén swore she was being judged. "Why would the Azalea need _my_ help?"

"Because Datura is a dangerous metahuman that I cannot stop if you don't teach me how to get into the Green."

Black Orchid lowered her head. "Excuse me? The Green? You know about that?" Belén nodded her head. "But you don't know how to get in?"

"Have you ever seen me in there?" Belén made a good point.

Black Orchid crossed her arms and looked around the pod she was trapped in. "And you thought the best way to get me to help you was to lock me up?"

"Not my best idea but I really needed to have a minute with you."

"Here's the thing, I don't trust you. And, let's be honest, you don't trust me." Black Orchid inched closer to the glass wall. "I'm not training anyone. In this world, it's all about yourself. I need to look out for myself."

"Well, that's a pretty way of looking at life," Belén remarked. "But look, I really need your help. Datura is coming back-"

"-then _you_ fight her off. She's your fight, not mine. Why do you think I've hidden for a month now? I'm not looking to get killed."

"But if you don't help me a lot of people are going to die!"

"Better them than me," Black Orchid said so plainly, so flatly, that Belén's mouth almost fell to the floor.

"How could you...how could you say that?"

"Because it's the truth. Self preservation."

Belén was flabbergasted to hear such a thing.

~0~

"I cannot believe she said that!" Belén stormed into the cortex, looking ready to kill someone herself. "How rude! How...selfish!"

"Sorry it didn't work out, Bells," Cisco meant as a true apology but she scoffed at him.

"Are you, though? You weren't even on board with the idea in the first place!"

Cisco made a face but, knowing she was just upset, he kept his mouth shut. He, did, however, give a look at Barry and Caitlin. Someone else needed to step in.

"Belén, maybe we just need to give her some time," Barry's suggestion was also responded with a scoff.

"I don't have time!" She groaned and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Caitlin called after her.

"Out! Don't follow!"

"She's m-a-d mad," Cisco whistled then quickly looked back to see if Belén had heard.

"She's upset, and with good reason," Barry rubbed his forehead. "Let's just keep an eye on her. She took the suit so-"

"-she's really _mad_ ," Cisco blurted and received a disapproving look from Caitlin. Barry just sighed.

"She turned off the tracker in her suit," Caitlin informed a few minutes later.

"Not surprising," Barry mumbled and moved over to see the screen himself. "She couldn't have gotten far. I'll go get her. See if I can talk to her."

He zipped out of the cortex with his suit, intending on finding Belén and bringing her back. However, it turned out Belén was very good at hiding. It'd been at least an hour of him scouring through the city before he gave up and asked for some additional help. Caitlin and Cisco were monitoring as usual, but, like Barry, they didn't have a clue where Belén went. It was like she disappeared.

"I've gone through all the places she usually goes to, I'm starting to get worried," Barry admitted. He stood at the top of a rooftop overlooking the busy streets of the city. It was fine that Belén wanted to have some time alone but two hours of no contact felt wrong.

"Uh, we got something, Barry!" Cisco exclaimed.

"Did you find her?" Barry quickly asked, ready to go as soon as they gave him a place.

"Yeah, um…looks like some warehouse off on Third and Carson street."

"That's weird," remarked Caitlin. "That whole block is for warehouses. What could Belén be doing there?"

"Don't know but we're going to find out," Barry said before speeding down the building he was on. He followed the instructions from the two and didn't bother coming in cautiously. He skidded to a stop and looked around the empty warehouse. "Belén?" he called out and received no answer. "Belén!"

"What's going on, Barry?" Cisco asked after the third failed call for Belén.

"She's not here," Barry ripped the cowl off his head and started walking down the left. There was something making a light noise coming from that direction. "But I...I don't think this warehouse is empty…"

"Belén's tracker says she's there, dude," Cisco insisted, though he was going through the tracker's ping just to make sure.

"Well, I don't see her," Barry kept walking forwards, now spotting something silvery round the corner. "Belén?"

"Barry, be careful," Caitlin warned. She was beginning to think there was something wrong with this entire situation. As if the world was reading her mind, she got a different type of alert on her computer screen.

Barry reeled back when a redhead swung from the side. "Hi there pretty boy," Poison Ivy showed off a smug smirk before firing at the speedster with a high-tech gun.

"Barry!" Cisco shouted as the computer stopped getting readings from Barry's vitals, his entire suit's actually. "Everything's gone offline." Cisco leaned back against his chair and heaved a heavy breath.

"Caitlin!" they both heard Belén's voice shriek from the other end of the line.

The two in the cortex did a quick double-take at each other before calling out their friend's name.

"Where are you!?" Caitlin demanded while she worked to figure out how the meta alert was coming from one part while Belén's tracker was pinging from another.

"Downtown! And I'm -" Belén shrieked again.

As it turned out, she was nowhere near close Barry's location. She didn't know how it happened, to be honest. She'd been sulking on her own for a while when she started to see some familiar red energy from a distance. Trained or not, she was not planning on giving Datura a pass. She chased after the energy until it led her downtown…

Datura had sucker-punched her from behind. She seemed to be on a different plan because even though she had a clear, open path to hurt Belén again, she walked past the woman on the ground and moved towards a street pole. Her eyes glowed an orange before shooting lasers at the street pole.

As Belén turned on her stomach, she saw the bottom of the street pole begin to steam as the acid from the lasers melted it away.

"Better, run, run, run!" Datura sing-sang to the people around when the street pole started creaking and leaning on its side.

"Oh, dammit," Belén muttered and scrambled to her feet. She started throwing vines to pull away the people in danger of getting squashed.

Datura boredly rolled her eyes as if saving people was a waste of time, and to her it was. When Belén pulled the last person out of the way, Datura rubbed her hands together and created a sword from her red energy.

"Uh oh," Belén had the good sense to back away. "Caitlin!" she started to call but for some reason, no one answered her. "Caitlin!"

"Where are you!?" Caitlin demanded so suddenly that, if Belén had been more focused, she would've picked up on the fact something was wrong.

"Downtown! And I'm -" Belén shrieked and ducked when Datura threw her sword at her. "It's Datura! She's back!"

"And ready to win," Datura said with a proud smile. Her eyes glowed silver, as did her hands. She radiated in Lunar energy, something Belén hadn't quite seen before and was therefore a little scared. "The power of Eclipsa-" Datura's smile widened, but Belén once again noticed there was a different voice speaking with Datura's, -is mine. Here's a little taste of what I can do!" She drew her hands back and started firing consecutively with lunar bolts.

Belén whipped her hands in front of her and tried doing what she saw Black Orchid doing earlier. She created a makeshift shield in front of her but Datura was going nonstop. "Caitlin, I really need Barry right now!"

"I - we thought he was with you!" Cisco exclaimed. "We lost contact with him!"

That made Belén automatically drop her shield in shock. "What!?" A series of lunar bolts hit her square in the chest, knocking her back on the ground. She shook her head in an attempt to rid her ears of the warped sounds. "Caitlin...where's...Barry?"

"We're working on it!"

"Oooh, are you looking for your partner?" Datura started walking towards Belén who was sitting up. "Yay-high?" She made a gesture of Barry's height over her head, "Red suit? Admittedly good looking?" Belén openly glared at her, making the woman laugh. "Don't be jealous. But, I do know where your Flash is."

Belén paused and gave Datura a look. "What?" She quickly got up and, to Datura's surprise, she swung a vine to throw the Earth 2 meta into a bus stop bench. "If you hurt him-"

Datura raised a hand and delivered a shock of electricity Belén's way. The brunette screamed as her body convulsed with the electric shocks.

Datura slowly got up and felt something over her lip. She took a drip of blood off her skin and scowled at herself. "Great." She walked towards Belén, admittedly feeling wobbly on her feet. "Listen up Azalea, here's the deal. I've got your Flash all nice and unconscious thanks to a speed gun I swept from Earth 2-" she bent down in front of Belén, smirking at the weariness in the woman's face from being attacked, "-and if you want to see him again...you're gonna have to drop this. Poison Ivy doesn't do patience."

Belén blinked rapidly from the electricity still lingering in her body. "I...want to...see him."

Datura smirked. "Thought you would." She raised a hand, making it seem like she was going to wave goodbye when instead she fired one last energy beam to knock Belén out.

~ 0 ~

In the cortex gathered at the cortex after realizing their two leading metas had been taken right under their noses.

"It was a trap," Cisco said quietly, and defeatedly, at his chair. He had his hands put together to the bridge of his nose. "It was a trap and we didn't see it."

"But it doesn't make sense how Datura got Belén's suit tracker in the first place," Caitlin hated the fact she couldn't figure that mystery out. "We didn't even realize it was gone."

From the corner of the cortex stood Harry, still and silent. His jaw was clenched with guilt but he still could not say anything.

"We know where they are," Iris reminded them. She looked at the screen on the wall, displaying the last known whereabouts of Barry. "Let's just go get them."

"First of all, we don't even know if they're still going to be there," Cisco pointed out, dropping his hand to his lap. "Second of all, even if they _are_ still there...what the hell are we supposed to do?" he made a quick gesture at their members. "They'd kill us."

Caitlin set a hand on Cisco's shoulder and gave a smile at the rest. "I think what Cisco's trying to say is that we do not have the...meta-skills to take on Datura and Poison Ivy at the same time."

"Well, we have to do something," Iris walked up to the desk and set her arms over the top. "Can we call in Nina?"

"Even then, taking on these two metas…" Caitlin gave a shake of her head. "She'll need back up."

"Where do we get that from?" Iris looked at the trio expectantly.

Cisco looked up at Caitlin, both apparently thinking of the same thing.

"Wait here," he pushed himself up from his chair. He exchanged a nod with Caitlin before the two walked out of the cortex.

~ 0 ~

After hours of screaming to be released, Black Orchid resigned herself to the fact she may never be getting out of the pipeline. She picked herself up as soon as she heard the pipeline door opening.

"Who the hell are you?" she demanded when she was face to face with Caitlin and Cisco.

"Manners," Cisco pointed at her. "We have a proposition for you."

"And why the hell would I care?"

"Because it involves your freedom, smartass," Cisco snapped. Caitlin inwardly sighed. This would definitely infuriate Belén but right now what mattered was bringing her and Barry back.

Black Orchid leaned on her hip. "I'm listening."

"The Azalea and the Flash have been kidnapped by Datura. We need you to help our friend, the Tempest, get them back."

Black Orchid unceremoniously snorted. "You want me to go up against the siphoner this entire city is talking about? She's the reason I stopped showing my face."

"What do you mean?" Caitlin's eyebrows knitted together.

Black Orchid didn't like the fact she'd unintentionally admitted that. "It's clear that this Datura wants to kill anyone in her path. I've seen what she's done to the Azalea. Imagine what she'd do if she found another botanist metahuman? No way!"

Cisco wasn't in a particular mood to remind the woman she was a human being. So, like Belén, he did first and would apologize later. "Fine, then I guess you'll stay here forever. Or at least until you die."

"You wouldn't let me die," scoffed the meta.

"Have you seen any other prisoners here?" Cisco's question made the metahuman pause. "Yeah. What do you think happened to the others in here?"

"You can't do that!"

"Then please help us," Caitlin pleaded. "C'mon. You're afraid and we get that, but if you don't do anything then Datura will kill the Azalea. And, if there's no one left to fight Datura...you're not going to be safe anywhere."

"If I go up against her I'll die right there and then," Black Orchid countered with.

"You said you were hiding from Datura so you didn't show your face," Caitlin reminded. "But the Azalea said you showed your face today after a store got robbed. That doesn't sound like self preservation to me."

"...that was my favorite store," Black Orchid rolled her eyes, attempting to make it all casual.

"Cut the crap, girl!" Cisco exclaimed. "Your freedom's on the table and you're gonna seriously waste it?"

"We can help you," Caitlin added. "We can make sure you're well prepared. We could even help you heal from your past fights." Black Orchid visibly stiffened. "The Azalea told us about some of the stitches she saw on you. And like my friend said, your freedom is on the table."

Black Orchid's dark eyes flickered from one scientist to the next. She knew what her position was and how far she could actually get. It wasn't good. "Fine," she huffed and reached a hand to the back of her head where her mask's tie was. "But I need some stitches to be re-done. So, who's the medical doctor here?" she tore the mask off to reveal a familiar face, though not familiar to Caitlin or Cisco.

Bartender Shivhan Jang stared at the scientists.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

So, first of all, this is a **disclaimer** for the fact that while I am writing in the character of Black Orchid, I am doing a different VERSION of the character. Black Orchid belongs to the DC world.

Now, the reason I decided to write this character in was because I felt it genuinely wrong she was written and barely got recognition. I never heard of Black Orchid until I started doing research on botanical metahumans for this precise arc. It amazed me she was such a complex character that I just had to write my version of hers.

And a visual reference of Black Orchid, aka Shivhan, would be the Korean singer Sunmi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"


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